Chuck vs the Volturi
by Arathorn73
Summary: Chuck and his team run into unexpected difficulty on a mission. Edward and Bella are trouble by a new vision from Alice. Multiple viewpoints. Spoilers through Chuck season 2 and the Breaking Dawn novel. No prior knowledge of either series required.
1. First Encounter

_I'm trying something different with this story. The whole plot came to me full-fledged in a meeting one day at work and I've been trying to find/make time to write it. I hope to appeal to fans of either the "Chuck" TV series or the __Twilight__ novels. Even if you're not familiar with one, give this story a shot._

_This story starts in early December. It's been about a month after the events of __Breaking Dawn__ and about six months after the episode "Chuck vs. the Ring." I'm trying to write somewhat in the style of Stephenie Meyer, who wrote the __Twilight__ series, which isn't my normal style, but it seems appropriate._

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy for the beta work. _

* * *

I was still not used to the whole being-an-active-part-of-the-mission thing. Sure, I now had a ridiculously powerful supercomputer around my wrist that somehow seemed to respond to my thoughts as much as my fingers on the keys. And, despite my misgivings, I'd volunteered to continue doing this. It still felt weird to not be told to stay in the car, though.

This particular mission had us working to steal plans from a construction site. We'd received a tip from General Beckman that it might be connected to the Ring organization and a new partner. The construction site was active during the day, so we came to the surprisingly large supervisor's shed to try to shed some light on what was being built. Or who it was being built for.

One of my most frequent roles on missions now was to stand guard. I liked this job because it allowed me to observe Sarah's lithe body as she darted from hiding spot to hiding spot. I still couldn't believe my good fortune in finding her. That she had fallen in love with me still seemed like a dream from which I would awaken at any moment.

My name is Carmichael, special agent Charles Carmichael. Not really, though. I'm really Chuck Bartowski, a mostly regular nerd with a weird history. That history led me to becoming a CIA agent with some special abilities that were not general knowledge.

Everything seemed normal for the mission. My 'Orion watch', as I called it, did a great job of determining building layouts and tracking people. It used thermal imaging extensively. It was showing just the two dots of my partners, Sarah Walker and John Casey, as they efficiently moved through the building garnering intelligence information. Sarah is with the CIA and Casey with the NSA. I'm sort of both. Or neither.

"I just saw movement. You got any bogies, Chuck?" Casey's voice crackled in my ear.

"Negative. Scope is clear." It had taken Casey months to train me to not babble into my microphone, but I was getting pretty good at it. I also just felt very military when I said 'negative' instead of 'no'.

"I've got activity, too. Whatever it is, it's fast." Sarah's voice tinkled in my ear, as it always did.

"OK, pull out. Maybe wonder-boy's toy isn't functioning properly." I started running diagnostics, but I was pretty sure everything was working right because I could still see the dots of my partners, now retreating toward my position.

"Still looks clear to me," I said. Then I saw it, a figure darting across the hallway in the direction Casey and Sarah had gone a few minutes earlier. The figure was too short and squat to be either of them, but the Orion watch wasn't detecting it. "Check that, confirmed visual on a bogey but it's not showing on my scanner."

I thought I saw it again, a blur of motion streaking across the corridor. Nobody could move that fast. I wondered if the late hour was getting to me and I was falling asleep standing guard. At least I wasn't the only one seeing it.

"Got him," Casey growled, an instant before his right hand connected with the interloper's face. Strangely, however, the shadowy figure didn't react at all. That kind of blow was normally followed by a quick collapse to the floor or at least a stumble. That was not the case this time.

I watched in fear as the figure lashed back and I heard a crack as its hand connected with Casey's arm. With the speed of lightning, a large board crashed into the figure's knee and splintered. Before I could figure out what was happening, Sarah was pulling on my arm. "MOVE!" she yelled at me, as I watched dumbfounded.

We hadn't gone more than two steps before the figure was upon us again. Musical laughter reached my ears as it casually knocked the two of us apart. We crashed into the walls of the hallway and I fell down in a heap.

The distinctive sound of Casey's .45 revolver filled my ears. The time for stealth was past and he was taking our attacker down hard. Another sound followed each shot, but it wasn't the expected grunt of pain. It was a sharp ting unlike anything I'd ever heard before.

The man, because it seemed to be a man who had separated Sarah and me, smiled and displayed long glittering teeth. It seemed impossible to me that Casey had missed from such short range, but it was the only explanation that made sense. Nobody could take six slugs and keep going. It must've been the injury he'd received earlier that threw off Casey's aim.

Sarah was gone, having disappeared back into the building. Her voice was in my ear again, "Chuck, run, get help." I had very rarely heard her voice like that before. It was full of fear and confusion. If Sarah was scared and confused, I knew it had to be really bad.

I ran pell-mell back through the shed to the door we'd entered through. Expecting at any moment to be grabbed from behind, I threw myself through the exit and slammed the door shut behind me. A moment later, I realized my partners were still inside and wrenched it back open before starting for the car. As I ran, I looked around desperately for some method of escape.

Inspiration hit the moment I wrenched the door of Casey's Crown Victoria open. Slipping inside, I spoke calmly into my microphone "Lure him outside." OK, it came out sounding more like a gasped squeak than a calm voice.

"Get outa here, Bartowski" came Casey's growl, but I stayed in the car without driving away. I had complete trust that Sarah would do as I asked.

While I waited, I was working feverishly. "Please, let it be GPS-controlled," I breathed to myself. It was. My fingers ghosted over the keypad on my wrist and then I waited.

A moment later, my lungs burned and I realized I was holding my breath. I reminded myself to breathe and felt better, though the seconds ticked away with terrible slowness. At least both dots were moving, indicating that Sarah and Casey were still alive.

"Coming out the north end" came the feminine voice in my ear. I made a last-second adjustment and watched in horror as Sarah came hurtling out of a window. She hit the ground rolling, but she didn't come up in a crouch as she so often did. She lay rather limply, in a heap.

I wrenched my eyes away from her form as the small man leapt lightly out of the building after her. Before he even hit the ground, I was releasing my trap. A 50-ton wrecking ball came crashing down on the exact spot where he was standing, moving at an incredible velocity. It struck with no warning, and he came apart under its impact.

Casey was next through the window, climbing more carefully and gingerly than I would have expected. He was holding his right arm with his left and his left leg didn't seem to be working correctly. His voice worked just fine, though. "Bartowski, get your butt out here and help Walker. There might be more. We've gotta get out of here."

I was already moving and my focus was purely on Sarah, who still hadn't moved after she'd completed her roll. My heart was pounding in my ears as I ran to her. "SARAH!" I couldn't see any blood pooled around her, but my heart immediately leapt into my throat.

"Sarah, are you OK?" I asked through tears as I reached her side and gingerly brushed hair off her face. At least she was breathing.

Her eyes turned to me, but they looked a bit dazed and her stare was unfocused, like she was seeing something besides me.

"Chuck?" she asked weakly.

"I'm here. Can you move? We've gotta get to the car and get out of here."

"Chuck?" she asked again.

"Yes, it's me, Chuck. C'mon, I'll help you." I put my arms around her and half-lifted her to her feet. She seemed mostly unhurt, at least physically, but her gaze was still vacant.

I stumbled with her to the black sedan, where Casey was already waiting, keys in his hand. Grimacing, he tossed the keys to me. "You'd better drive," he said and climbed into the back of the car. That, more than anything else, convinced me of the severity of his injuries. Nobody ever drove his prized Crown Vic except for him.

I guided Sarah into the front seat and ran around to drive, slipping in the dirt and falling near the front bumper in my haste. As I stood, I could have sworn I saw the wrecking ball tremble.

Wrenching the driver's side door open, I slid in behind the steering wheel and started the car. "Casey, where should I go?" No answer. A glance into the back seat confirmed that he was unconscious, with something white gripped in his left hand. I turned to Sarah, who was staring blankly out the windshield. "Sarah…" I tried again, as I started the car.

She again looked through me. "Give this to Chuck," she said, pressing a medallion into my hand. I looked at it and a host of images began to pour into my conscious mind. It's kind of hard to explain, but I had a supercomputer imprinted in my brain. It was not quite as cool as it sounds because I couldn't always access all parts of it. I needed some trigger, like a word or a visual cue. The medallion triggered something in the computer and it started pushing that information into my conscious mind. At least, I think that's how it worked.

I saw piles of broken pale bodies, streams of purple smoke rising into the sky, a small village that looked European, and men draped in large black cloaks. Imprinted across the entire flash was one word.

Volturi.


	2. Regrouping

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy for the beta comments. If anybody knows how to get more hits on a cross-over story, I'm open to suggestions..._

Things were definitely not good. I was the only functioning member of the team. I knew of the existence of special CIA hospitals in the Los Angeles area, but I had no idea where they were. Going to a regular hospital was not an option, as my sister, Ellie, was a doctor and would have found out. She doesn't know we're secret agents, for her own safety. It would be difficult to explain away these injuries if she found out.

Thinking about Ellie gave me an idea, though. As I drove, I forced my trembling fingers to dial Captain Awesome's number. Devon Woodcomb, a.k.a. Captain Awesome, is my brother-in-law and he knows that I'm a spy. He's also a doctor and should be able to take care of Casey and Sarah. It took three tries but I finally got through.

"Devon Woodcomb," his sleepy voice answered.

"Devon, it's Chuck. Listen, I know it's the middle of the night, but I need your help. And you can't tell Ellie. Can you do that for me?"

"Chuck?"

"Don't say my name. Say some doctor's name from work and make an excuse to get out. I'll be by to pick you up in six minutes."

"Yes, Dr. Ilahi. I'll be right there." I hung up and concentrated on my driving. Fortunately, even Los Angeles' streets were mostly cleared out by 2:40 a.m. on a Wednesday. My heart was still racing, but I forced myself to drive slowly and not attract undue attention.

Devon was waiting by the street when I got there. He was beaming. "Do I get to be a spy, too, Chuck? That's awesome."

"No." I knew where I had to take them, and Devon couldn't be allowed to know where it was. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to blindfold you."

"Seriously, bro? That's a little weird."

"You have to trust me, Devon." I hoped that using his real name instead of my nickname for him would impress on him the seriousness of the situation. Sarah was starting to look better, but she still wasn't really able to speak coherently. And Casey was still unconscious.

After I blindfolded him, we took a slightly circuitous route to the Orange Orange, where Sarah still had a cover job. Our goal, however, was the secret entrance in the back of the Orange Orange. That led to the Castle fortress underneath the innocuous frozen yogurt shop. The Castle contained, among other things, very well-supplied medical facilities.

Our little mini-parade from the car to the Castle would have been humorous under other circumstances. Casey was far too heavy for me to carry, so I made Awesome carry him. Sarah could walk under her own power, but she still wasn't focusing right and tended to wander off without a hand guiding her. I had to lead them both and keep them from stumbling until we were safely inside the Castle.

I couldn't ask Devon to carry a heavy man like Casey down stairs without the ability to see, though. Once the heavy steel doors had sealed us inside, I pulled his blindfold off. "Oh, wow." He looked around at all the electronics gear – a full wall of almost two stories was filled with screens, computers, and other types of equipment. "This is just awesome!"

Then he looked at the man he was holding in his arms. "Oh, this isn't good. Do you have a place where I can work?"

"This way." I led them down the stairs and into the medical wing of Castle. We put Sarah in one room and Casey in another, while I went to make a call to CIA headquarters.

* * *

It was almost 3:30 before I could make myself go back to check on Casey and Sarah. I'd seen them both hurt before but nothing on this scale. It scared me. And the way Sarah had looked in my face and not recognized me was the worst and most painful of all.

But I went back anyway, to check on them. Awesome had been working, I could tell. As I walked back, I could hear Casey's voice, gruff as always. "Just set the bone, Devon." It sounded like his teeth were gritted.

"Damnit, John! I'm a surgeon, not an orthopedist." I had to smile at that line. Apparently, I was wearing off on Awesome more than I'd realized.

I turned and walked in to see Sarah. She was sitting cross-legged on an examination table with her arms resting on her knees and her eyes shut. As soon as I touched the handle, however, her eyes sprang open and she flowed into a defensive position. I was so glad to see her looking better that I didn't care that she was ready to fight me. She relaxed once I entered the room.

"Thank God, Sarah. You're OK."

"Am I? Your brother-in-law doesn't seem to think so. At least, he wouldn't let me come find you ten minutes ago. What have you been doing?"

"Setting up a meeting with Beckman in about 15 minutes. And reviewing the files you guys found, seeing if I would flash on anything." I didn't add the 'worrying about you' that I was thinking.

"And?"

"Nothing. Just the medallion you gave me."

"Medallion? Oh, yeah." Her flawless brow wrinkled in concentration. "I grabbed that after … well, after he gassed me. It must have been some kind of gas. It made it so hard to think about anything but him." She suddenly looked back into my face. "But I knew you had a plan. I trusted that you would save me. So I did what you'd said. I lured him outside. Then everything went black for a while and I realized I was here. Captain Awesome is running some blood tests."

I risked going over and giving her a quick hug. While our full relationship wasn't exactly a secret, it wasn't something we generally let show in any CIA facility. "I was so worried," I whispered into her hair.

I've been worried before. Every other time I'd expressed it, she chuckled at my naïveté. This time, she just breathed deeply. "Me, too. You saved us. Again."

"I think I still owe you about 50." My voice was tender and I was leaning over to kiss her when the door opened.

"Sorry," Captain Awesome said. "I'll come back."

"No, it's alright," Sarah said. "I want to go to this briefing. Release me, doctor."

"Well," he said. "I'm no expert in pathogens, but it looks like whatever was in your system is clearing out on its own. Your latest batch of blood tests came back almost normal. Do you have any other pains?"

"A few lacerations from the glass and normal muscle soreness, but I can treat those. Thanks, Devon. How's Casey?"

The name summoned the man. He appeared at the door, his right arm in a cast and a boot around his left leg. "Good enough to not miss out on the briefing. Devon, stay here." The blond doctor nodded.

Casey limped his way to the main room with Sarah and me following.

* * *

General Beckman sat in stony silence while we told her of the mission, the unexpected intrusion, and our inclusion of Devon Woodcomb. Atypically, I did most of the talking, my partners both being still somewhat dazed. I'm sure that's why it took twice as long as it normally did.

Once I finally sputtered to a halt, Beckman started asking questions.

"Colonel Casey, did you really miss from short range?"

Casey met her gaze unflinchingly, an ability I'd always wished I could master. "I don't think so, ma'am. I believe I hit with all six shots but that the enemy was not stopped."

"By six shots?"

"I don't believe it was a person, ma'am. I briefly examined the site where Bartowski dropped the ball. There was no sign of any blood. I did retrieve a portion of the … whatever it was. Robot? We've not had a chance to examine it yet."

"Very well. Next question. Even allowing for Bartowski's penchant for exaggeration, this … whatever-it-was seems to be extraordinarily powerful. How did you evade capture or death while Bartowski set his trap?"

"General," Sarah's voice was icy, "I believe the figure was toying with us, like a cat does with a mouse when it's not particularly hungry. Nothing we did seemed to affect it. I also believe it took care not to injure me, like it was saving me for something."

"I concur with Agent Walker's assessment," Casey added. "Except it had no such compunctions about not hurting me. I will also note that hitting it felt like hitting a stone wall." He displayed the full cast around his right arm. "I broke three fingers in addition to my arm."

"Very well. Agent Casey, continue your investigation of the fragment you recovered, while you coalesce. The only intelligence we have on this 'Volturi' that Agent Bartowski flashed on is the name Carlisle Cullen. Agents Walker and Bartowski, investigate that lead. Doctor Woodcomb must also be returned home. We'll discuss his presence in Castle later." Beckman's visage disappeared from the screen.

I barely noticed. I was still recovering from the flash I'd had on the name 'Carlisle Cullen.' An impossibly-long series of medical positions scrolled by, ending with a small hospital in Washington. "Geez, this guy must be 80, at least."

At that moment, the Castle alarms started going off. Video cameras showed the same guy that I had crushed not more than two hours ago, or something that looked exactly like him, entering the Orange Orange frozen yogurt shop.

_I still crave reviews._


	3. Chased

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy and my wife for their beta reads. Yes, my wife is finally interested in a story I'm writing._

Casey sprang into action, typing madly with one hand. "Now, I've got you, you bastard." The monitor showed thick bars dropping from the ceiling of the Orange Orange. The transformation from yogurt shop to prison cell took only a fraction of a second. "That'd hold a team of elephants," the NSA man boasted.

It might have, but it barely slowed the cloaked figure, which muscled apart the bars like an old-time action hero. It reached the heavy steel doors that protected the Castle and began punching its way through them. Casey's fingers danced and a host of gases and powders coated the figure, obscuring it from our vision. "GO!" he yelled at them. "Take Devon and go out an old Buy More exit. Now."

Sarah and I looked at each other. We might be leaving him to die. But he was right. We couldn't help. Sarah immediately started grabbing electronics and weapons. Grabbing a blindfold, I dashed off to get Awesome, who was fortunately finished cleaning up the mess in the medical wing, except for some stray blood.

"We're leaving. Now." I spoke quickly as I tied the blindfold around his eyes. Pushing him, we almost ran through the tunnels until we reached the locker room of the Buy More.

I hesitated at that point. "Sarah, I don't work here any more," I whispered, where Awesome couldn't overhear. "I don't have any keys or know the codes or anything. It feels wrong."

"We have no time, Chuck. We have to go. We can't get caught again." A look into her eyes convinced me this wasn't a time to argue.

We passed quickly through the Buy More. Its layout was familiar and a bit comforting, though I felt neither the dread nor the nostalgia I would have expected. Sarah disarmed the alarm system faster that I could have entered the override PIN, and we were very quickly in Sarah's Porsche, heading for the Woodcombs' apartment complex.

A comfortable silence fell in the car on the way. About halfway through the trip, when we'd traveled far enough around that determining our original position would be basically impossible, Sarah let me remove Awesome's blindfold. "Thanks for helping us out. I owe you one," I told him.

"I don't know, bro. I think I'm still in your debt for saving our wedding."

"Yeah, but now you have to lie to Ellie. I know how much that hurts. So I definitely think I owe you one."

He chewed on that for a minute. "Is everything OK? We got out of there in a hurry. Where's John?"

Sarah fielded that one. "John should be OK. He's one of the best in the business in an amazing bunker. He'll be just fine."

"Oh. OK. I guess I'll see you around." We pulled up to the apartment complex and I got out of the car to let Awesome climb out of the back seat.

Sarah flashed him a smile but not the special smile she reserved for me. "Right. Thanks again, Devon. Sorry for interrupting your night's sleep."

That brought a chuckle. "Doctors are used to having their sleep interrupted." He waved jauntily as he walked towards the fountain and home.

"I caught that flash, Chuck." Sarah was speaking again, as she drove away. "You might be able to fool the others, but I know you too well. What'd you see?"

"Apparently 'Carlisle Cullen' is also a doctor. He's been practicing for a long time, in various places in the country. Latest report we have says he's near Seattle, Washington."

"It's a long drive, but I don't think we should risk the airport. Who knows what they know if they had the construction zone staked out like that. Plus, being in one place too long seems very dangerous."

We rode in silence for a while. Sarah handled the Porsche expertly and we left early enough to avoid the worst traffic, so we were making good time. We made especially good time since Sarah considered the speed limit nothing more than a vague suggestion.

After a few hours of conversation, during which time we'd fueled both ourselves and the car, I asked a question that had been bothering me. Really, it was the only thing keeping me awake.

"Sarah?" She could hear the hitch in my voice. She always knew when I was going to ask a question she didn't want to answer. I saw her stiffen her body and slowly try to relax it. No one ever said our relationship was easy. "What happened when you were gassed in there?"

Sarah didn't look at me as she spoke. "It was weird. The scent was sickly sweet and suddenly all my nerves were on fire. I wanted to throw myself at the … the thing that was in the building. I wanted to just stand there and let him do whatever he wanted. To beg him to take me. It was overpowering. Except some part of my brain still remembered your voice. I knew you were waiting out there for me. I knew you were counting on me. And I couldn't let you down."

Wow. That was so much different than I had expected. And it was flattering in its own way. Apparently, nothing had happened. But with that worry finally erased from my mind, I felt the crushing weight of weariness. I'd been up for over 30 consecutive hours. Add in the fact that many of those hours had been stressful and trying both mentally and physically and I could barely keep my eyes open.

Sarah sensed this, of course. She knew me better than I thought anyone could. "Go to sleep, Chuck. We've got a long drive ahead of us. I'll wake you if anything comes up." I was asleep as soon as she was done speaking.

* * *

I woke suddenly as the car swerved left and right quickly. I was stiff and sore, indicating that I'd been out for some time. A growl from my stomach confirmed that assessment. The sun was still high in the sky, though, so I hadn't slept the whole day away.

Blinking away the sleep, I tried to make sense of what I'd felt and what I was seeing. Sarah normally drove so smoothly that I could barely detect any turns. The jerkiness continued and I realized we were weaving past stopped traffic.

My adrenaline flow increased sharply, jolting me awake. Those cars weren't stopped; we were driving so fast that they simply appeared to be stopped.

"Sarah." I hated the quivering fear in my voice, so I tried again. "Sarah, what's going on?" It still squeaked out.

"Somebody's following us. Someone who has no need to be subtle. They came roaring into view a few miles ago. I'm not positive they're after us, but it seems likely."

"Is it the same … whatever it was … from this morning?"

"I don't know. It doesn't seem possible, but so much of the last sixteen hours seems unreal." She sighed. "If I had to guess, I'd say it probably is."

"Can't you shake him?" I asked.

"Nope. Maybe if I could get away from traffic. We have the faster car, but I can't maneuver like it does." I could hear the frustration in her voice.

I looked behind us. The chasing car was obvious – it was a black car. I knew I should know the make and model, but I was never really a car guy. It was a sleek-looking muscle car that seemed to flow between vehicles like liquid. It would be in one lane and quickly move to another. It was also getting closer, inconsistently but inevitably.

"Make sure your seatbelt is tight." Sarah commanded me suddenly. Her voice was tight but controlled. Her focus never left her driving, as the cars were more packed in this stretch of road. The afternoon sun glinted off mirrors and rear windshields, causing me to squint.

I did as I was told, of course. Once I was certain I was well-secured, I asked "Why?"

The question became moot a quarter-second later, when the tires squealed and I was pushed against the now-taut seatbelt. I could feel it digging into my shoulders and hips. We had just passed an exit, so I didn't understand what she was doing.

Sarah cut hard to the right and the jostling Porsche slewed onto the exit ramp that I would have sworn we had missed and up to the overpass. Below and us, the chasing car was two lanes from the exit ramp with a wall of vehicles between us and it.

Beside me, Sarah drew a ragged breath, obviously shaken. I saw her eyes were wide with the adrenaline of the chase. Together, we watched the black vehicle drop back and change lanes. Our pursuer had missed the exit. It seemed we were safe, at least for the moment.

Our relief was very short-lived however, because we weren't safe. Our pursuer somehow managed to spin his car around and started coming up the ramp designed for entrance onto the interstate we'd been using. The car hadn't lost much speed in its u-turn and was racing towards us.

My soft swear was overridden by Sarah's admiring "Damn!" Then we were moving again, the Porsche leaping forward like a goosed waitress. The black car disappeared quickly behind a rise in the ground, as we shot along the side road. I had no idea where we were.

It didn't matter, as it turned out. As soon as we were hidden from view, Sarah wrenched us into a teeth-rattling one-eighty, across a small grass median. Before I had realized what was happening, we were roaring back towards the interstate.

As Sarah had obviously known, our pursuer was hot on our trail again, but he couldn't stop us, not at a closing speed well in excess of 100 miles an hour. It was still a near thing, but his ram attempt failed and our lead was back to being measured in seconds instead of milliseconds.

"What now?" I asked.

"I don't know." Sarah's terse voice was tinged with defeat. "I was undercover with a racing circuit for a while and none of those drivers could do what I just saw."

We drove in silence for a moment before I noticed that the traffic on I-5 was getting more densely packed. The reason for that soon became apparent. A flashing light indicated road construction would slow us for the next 23 miles.

I looked back. "He's still back there, Sarah."

"How many cars between us?"

I counted quickly. "13. Make that 15."

The right lane, which was closed ahead in under a mile, was nearly deserted. We flew along it, ignoring the angry honks and gestures from drivers who had properly merged back when the warnings began.

A couple times, in college, I'd felt important enough to try to pass the 'goody-two-shoes' who lined up neatly for construction. Being left to linger in the right-hand lane for extensive periods both times, while bumper-to-bumper traffic inched past had convinced me of the foolishness of that approach.

Sarah, too, had to slow to an almost stop, while the black car came up behind us. I saw her turn her head to face the line of vehicles. Miraculously, an opening appeared and we slid quickly into it. The black car ended a good dozen cars behind us.

The lane around us was lined with concrete barricades. I could see the strain of the drive starting to ooze out of Sarah's body, but she was still overly tense and alert. We both began questing around for ways out of our predicament. It was still almost two hundred miles to Seattle. Our small lead wouldn't last another fifteen minutes.

Looking around, I saw a paver moving across the new lane, which looked smooth but there was no way we could reach it. Ahead, the road crews were working on jack-hammering out small sections of badly-damaged road. Trucks were hauling away the debris.

I couldn't think our way out of this situation. That was my job and I wasn't doing it. I concentrated harder, but it was to no avail.

About a third of the way down the construction zone, we saw a group of workers taking a mid-afternoon break. Sarah stopped the car, heedless of the honks behind us, and ran over to the group. She talked with them for a moment, showing them something in her wallet. Then she ran back to the car.

It was a testament to my level of fear that I didn't even admire the grace and beauty of her running form but merely concentrated on what she was doing or if I could help.

She got back in and we drove off, but the crew to whom she'd spoken quickly closed down the one lane of traffic which was still flowing. Only two cars behind us made it through before the whole line of vehicles was stopped.

I sagged back into my seat. Now we really were safe, at least for the moment.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"Flashed a badge. Flashed a smile. Told 'em I needed at least two hours of complete road closure immediately. Fortunately, they agreed."

"That was brilliant."

"Maybe, but it means we need to move fast once we get to Seattle. Any ideas?"

"No." I felt like I needed to hold up my end of the bargain. I was supposed to be the brains to Sarah's brawn, but she'd outthought me on the car chase, at least twice. It was time to start pulling my weight.

Unfortunately, all I could think of were the weather predictions. "I think our first stop needs to be a clothing store, though. We're hardly dressed for snow."

Sarah laughed and I joined her shortly thereafter. Our release lasted longer than was strictly necessary, but we both really needed it.

_It seems cross-overs labeled as such don't get a lot of traffic, so I'm moving this story around a bit. I'm sorry if it's hard to find. It might be easier to subscribe and get links. Naturally, reviews are hugely appreciated._


	4. Waking from Bliss

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy for a very helpful beta and my wife for her read, too. _

_This story will change point-of-view a few times (probably 5 POVs total). This is the first switch._

**Part II: Bella's Story**

The day started the same as days had been starting for about a month now. I didn't start by waking up in a bed, as I had less than a year ago. I did start the day in a bed, with an awakening of sorts. But it was an awakening into awareness that night was passing and morning was upon us.

I say 'us', because I was not alone in my bed. Edward was there with me, where he belonged. I hated the morning, because it meant that another night of passion was at an end. We had only been together like this a few months, Edward and I. And we had lost too many of those nights. It was also a wrench to let go of the night.

I loved the mornings, though, because it means our darling daughter would be awake. I flew into my museum-sized closet and followed my nose to jeans and a cotton t-shirt, my preferred style of clothing. Such normal wear was hard to find in my closet, where one-of-a-kind dresses were the norm. But I hadn't stocked my closet.

Dressing quickly, Edward and I left our private cottage and ran the short distance to the main house. We ran for the sheer joy of running, and we ran because we were, as usual, late in leaving each other's private company.

Renesmee waited at the door to the main Cullen house, with barely-contained impatience. Barely-contained was a huge improvement and remarkable for a child only a few months old. But Renesmee was not a normal child. She was the rare result of a union between a male vampire and a human female.

I was still human when I bore her. Edward and I were only recently married, and I went from Isabella Swan, recent high-school graduate, to Isabella Cullen, human wife to a vampire I loved with all my heart and soul.

As happens after weddings, I was soon pregnant. It's a long story, but Renesmee was born a few weeks later. To save my life, Edward helped me on a journey I had been anxious to complete. I became a vampire.

Behind Renesmee, Rosalie stood, taking pictures. Rosalie was sort of an adopted step-sister. Other than Renesmee's biological linkage to Edward and I, all the Cullens were family by choice and not be genetics. Rosalie adored Renesmee and hardly left her side.

I ignored Rose, however, and scooped my daughter up in my arms. Renesmee lit my days like Edward lit my nights. She now appeared to be about four years old, though her true age was only a few months. We now knew, however, that her maturity would stabilize in a few years and she would join us in a state of unchanging immortality.

While her physical growth was slowing, her mental growth continued to astound us all. I feared that she would pass me in learning any day. I was only a high-school graduate, having put off college for the reasons above. Oh, and to help my new family prevent a terrible vampire-on-vampire war. So it was no surprise that Renesmee already seemed to know as much as I did.

The camera clicked again and again. A baby in the house was an event to be captured, since vampire females can never bear children. Every day Rose took hundreds of photographs and every night she arranged them. Renesmee would not lack for albums of her brief childhood.

Unfortunately, Rose was so intent on this task that her husband Emmett was feeling quite out of sorts. Emmett had left about a week ago, taking Jasper, another adopted brother-in-law, with him. The two would be gone for a month, to the Amazon. They were going not only to escape parenthood but to hunt the giant snakes that inhabited the region.

Their interest in the large snakes is explained by the fact that the Cullens are a family of vampires who do not hunt humans. We jokingly refer to ourselves as 'vegetarian vampires'. Even though we are perfectly designed to hunt humans – super-fast, super-strong, hard as rock, mesmerizing breath, heightened senses, venom, razor-sharp teeth, etc. – we recognize the value of human life and work to preserve it whenever possible. It makes us outcasts in the vampire world.

Carlisle was the first vegetarian vampire and the founder of the Cullen family. He was our adopted father figure. With Emmett and Jasper gone, he was also the only male in the house other than Edward. Since he worked long shifts at the hospital, he was gone a lot, too. That meant lots of female vampires around.

Besides Rosalie, there was Alice, Jasper's wife. Alice was as girlie as I wasn't, as evidenced by her stocking of my closet and my reaction to it. She loved dressing up in fancy clothes, dressing others up, and making every event as big as possible. She had a willing ally in Renesmee, who loved changing clothes. This provided even more fodder for Rose's ever-present camera.

I stayed out of such nonsense myself, as did Esme, Carlisle's mate and my adopted mother. I preferred to read to my daughter or play music to her, though I wasn't really very good. Esme took on much of the practical tutoring – cooking, sewing, cleaning, responsibility, and such. It was a nice arrangement that left me with enough free time to hunt, to prepare for college in a year, and to be with Edward.

Unfortunately, today was not quite my normal day of walking from bliss to bliss. Oh, no. Christmas was coming up and Alice had decreed that we would be having the 'biggest Christmas ever.' Having heard of some of her earlier Christmas parties, that seemed impossible, but apparently the presence of two new members in the family was spurring her to never-before-seen heights.

Now, the fact that it was already late January also would seem to pose a problem to Christmas coming soon. The date barely fazed Alice, however, who stated that "Two twenty-five looks enough like twelve twenty-five for everybody." Thus, it came to pass that our Christmas party was scheduled for February 25th. Nobody dared argue with Alice when it came to parties.

My only job was to buy Christmas presents for everyone. This was a bigger challenge than it might appear on the surface. I used to have trouble buying presents for my human friends and family. Trying to find something that suited them but that they hadn't already purchased themselves was always hard.

It was a million times harder with a vampire family. Not only had they all lived for a very long time, thereby accumulating a ton of stuff, but they also had access to nearly unlimited wealth.

I had my work cut out for me.

Today, Edward and I would be trying to tackle one of the trickiest people on my list – Alice. Alice complicated everything even further by being able to see the future. Once a person made up his or her mind about something, Alice could see the effects of that decision before they happened.

Yeah, that made buying her a surprise present so easy! How was I supposed to buy her a present, wrap it, and put it under the tree without her seeing my decision? It seemed impossible.

But what really made me depressed was what she'd asked for. Clothes. She already had a closet bigger than my first house filled with things she'd never worn. And she knew how hopeless I was when it came to fashion.

At least it was better than facing death. Even if only by a little bit.

I didn't need any breakfast. Edward and I had hunted just yesterday, to prepare for today. This was also my first planned day-long expedition into the human world as a vampire. I'd been around humans a number of times, but only in very controlled circumstances. Normally, newborn vampires are too unpredictable, too thirsty, and too dangerous to send near any humans. Not me.

The concern about newborn vampires wasn't just because of our vegetarian tendencies. About the only law vampires really observed was the necessity of keeping our existence secret. Newborns were generally bad at keeping their existence secret. The lust for human blood was too strong.

Before we left, though, I was going to spend some time with Renesmee, since we were going to be apart almost all day. Just last night, I had started reading _Ready Freddy_ to her (she loves stories about human children so Rose had bought her about a thousand of them, literally. We had an entire 12-foot bookcase filled with children's books). We snuggled together on the couch and opened the book. I had just started to read when Alice came bounding down the stairs in a big hurry.

Even in a hurry, Alice always looked like she was dancing. Instead of a normal ballet or tango, though, this looked more like a mosh pit move – running and jumping at high speed.

It was only then that I noticed that Edward had already collected all the members of the family into the living room. I knew I should have been able to detect that, but I still tended to focus on one thing and get distracted by details instead of monitoring the major activities around me. Edward assured me I'd get better over time, though.

Esme spoke first. "What did you see this time?" With Alice's flair for the dramatic, it could have been nothing more than the circus coming to town.

"I'm not sure exactly. But I saw the Volturi slaughtering every one of us, while we were powerless to resist them. They incapacitated us while Bella's shield was still up, though, so I don't understand it."

"What changed? I thought they were going to let us be." Rosalie was indignant that anything would interrupt her only chance at motherhood, even surrogate motherhood.

"I don't know. I can't see it all. There are big holes and gaps, like multiple possibilities lead to that outcome." Alice sounded frustrated. I wondered if she was always this frustrated or if all the chaos I'd brought into their lives made things worse.

"Tell them everything." Edward said. Of course, he had already seen the entire vision. My Edward can read minds, which is another huge complication in the whole Christmas present thing. He couldn't read my mind, though, unless I worked very hard to let him. That was my shield that Alice had mentioned – a very handy little ability in itself.

"It's hard to put into words. I've never seen anything like it. A stunningly beautiful blond human woman was writhing in pain on the ground. I could tell she'd been bitten by a vampire and was becoming one of us."

Alice's eyes got this far-away look as she continued her tale. "The next part doesn't make sense, though. I watched this vision woman reach into an ankle sheath and draw a knife. Her suffering was almost visible, but her concentration was unbelievable. Somehow, she managed to pull the knife to her breast and plunge it into her heart." Alice looked up, then, catching each of our eyes.

"Of course, stopping her heart stopped the transformation. She died immediately."

We were all completely dumbfounded by the story. I am sure every one of us was reliving the pain of the venom-induced transformation from human to vampire. The torturous agony was beyond all-consuming. How could anyone act on their own behalf to stop it? It defied all logic.

Renesmee spoke then. She was still getting used to speaking instead of simply showing everyone what she wanted, using her talent. She could project her thoughts to anyone, by the simple act of touching them, but her gift was limited to communicating with one person at a time. "Two visions or one?"

I knew she was smart. She reached the core issue quickly, while the rest of us were still picturing the scene Alice had described.

"One. They are tied together. Only by saving the blond human can we prevent our own destruction."

_Non-Twilight readers -- followable? Everybody, reviews appreciated._


	5. Troubling Developments

_Thanks to my beta readers – nattylovesjordy and my wife._

_This story sometimes appears in the Twilight section of and sometimes in the Chuck section. It will rest as a cross-over eventually._

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"I'm sorry, that's about all we have." the salesman told me. We were at Kuhlman's clothing, a store in Seattle which professed to carry unique items. It seemed a great prospective store to find a Christmas gift for Alice and was about our last option. So far, we hadn't found anything particularly interesting, let alone unique. Edward had a mental catalog of most of Alice's closet. He assured me that most of the things we'd seen had been in her closet for at least two years.

I smiled at the clerk, enjoying the power over men I now wielded. Vampires look almost exactly like humans, except that we are, as a rule, breath-takingly beautiful. That part of the change worked even on someone like me – a dull brunette as a human. I now looked the part of a seductress of the night – dark, deadly and beautiful. "Nothing in the back? Nothing extra-special?"

While he went back to look, I spoke quickly and quietly to Edward. I was just mastering the vampire art of keeping my voice low enough that nobody could overhear us. I was also still working on speaking as quickly as my family customarily did, when no humans were around. "What does Alice do? Look into the future and see what the clothing trends will be?"

He looked at me like the answer was obvious, before replying in the same way. "Of course. You have no idea how boring it is to watch her mind when she's hunting for fashion. It almost makes reality TV bearable."

I giggled and felt Edward's hand on my back tighten a bit to pull me in. It was only natural that we kiss – we looked like teen-agers in love and we were close enough. The hard part was stopping at just a kiss, when my mind and body were screaming for more.

After we broke contact, I pouted just a bit. Edward just smiled and spoke again in that low tone. "It's good for you to continue honing that wonderful restraint of yours."

I huffed in exaggerated indignation. "I thought your teaching me would end when we were both alike."

"But I like teaching you."

"You do?"

"Of course. Your eyes light up when you get something new. It makes you even more beautiful." He paused for a moment. "Besides, you teach me, too, you know."

"I do? What?"

"Well, remember last night when you …"

But his voice stopped as the salesman had returned and started speaking. "A thousand apologies, ma'am, but we have nothing new in the back."

I forced a smile on my face. It wasn't his fault we were attempting the impossible. "Thank you for checking." Turning to Edward, I asked, "Shall we go?"

He nodded, but before we reached the exit, the salesman had pushed a card into my hand. I felt his warm skin against mine and felt his pulse. I was momentarily overcome by thirst. I was getting better about ignoring the general odor of blood around me but touch was still very difficult for me to control. I barely heard his "If I can do anything for you, anything, just call and ask for me."

Edward had noted my distress, of course, and pulled me out of the store. A breeze blew the passing drizzle past us and the smell changed to that of smoke and vehicles. It helped clear my head. "You're doing wonderfully," he said in a normal voice. "But is it time to head home?" His voice was equal parts hopeful and resigned – like he wanted to go home but dreaded coming out again.

"No, let's try another store. I could really use a few more real clothes. Maybe we can also 'decide' on some blue jeans for Alice."

One of our activities during the day had been to make up our minds on some ridiculously banal, tripe clothes as Alice's Christmas present, so she could see herself opening them. It helped mask the real present, Edward had explained, to have many false images. Plus, it was just fun.

The first time I'd decided on an ultra-touristy space needle t-shirt. My cell phone had rung as I was walking to the counter with it. "Don't you dare!" Alice had screamed indignantly in my ear. Laughter like bells had rung through the store as Edward and I had held our sides with uncontained amusement.

The latter attempts weren't quite as hilarious, but they had provided some much-needed breaks in our impossible task.

We walked the short distance to Nordstrom's, a place where we were almost certain not to find anything for Alice. I shopped quickly, finding a few jeans and comfortable clothes to wear around the house.

We had just finishing up my shopping when I smelled it. It was the most delicious, seductive thing I could imagine. It was the smell of blood, human blood. But it wasn't the weakened smell that escaped through pores and during exhalation. This was exposed blood.

I inhaled deeply again and I could determine that it wasn't necessarily fresh blood, but it wasn't old, either. The cuts had to have been suffered less than twenty-four hours ago. The origin of the scent wasn't far away, either.

Venom poured into my mouth and it took all my concentration not to drop into a crouch. My lips definitely pulled back into a snarl, but the pooled venom prevented the sound from reaching my lips.

Some part of my newly-expanded mind watched with fascination. Was this going to be the point at which I snapped? Everybody seemed to think that my self-control was unnatural. Maybe I just had not been sufficiently tested yet.

Instinct took over as I crept silently toward the source of the beguiling aroma. I was so intent on my stalking that I barely noticed Edward's restraining hand on my shoulder.

It didn't restrain me. I was lost to the scent. "Bella," he spoke aloud, at human speed. I was so used to our quiet, quick conversations; it distracted me from my mission a bit. I looked at him in annoyance.

He looked back at me, pleading in his eyes. "Bella, don't." I looked into those eyes and was hypnotized. Not literally, it doesn't work like that. But Edward's eyes were always hypnotic to me.

I relaxed from fully taut bowstring to bowstring at rest as I allowed myself to become lost in his eyes. I have stared into those golden eyes a thousand times and would have sworn I'd memorized every last fleck of color and texture. It didn't matter. I could still stare in them and be content.

Suddenly, though, his eyes tightened and I was drawn back to the immediate surroundings. A new smell had joined the smell of drying blood. It was also blood, dilute from passage through a body, but heady.

If the former smell was Vicodin, weakening my defenses, the second was alcohol. It was powerful on its own, of course, but the two made for complete, instant loss of control.

Edward was beside me as we closed the remaining few feet to our targets. The source of the latter smell was a tallish man with dark curly hair and an easy smile. His female companion, currently out of sight behind a rack of clothes, was the source of the first smell, the fresh blood.

Venom rose in my throat again as I considered how to take them without attracting attention and without needing to share with Edward. Such was my state at the time that I was trying to find a way to get everything to myself.

My eyes swept over the space between us. They had a shopping cart with sweatshirts, hats, and jackets – very wise winter wear for humans in Seattle in late January. His current attire was more suited for my old hometown of Phoenix than the cloudy chill of Washington winters.

Then his partner appeared. Her scent preceded her, but it was her appearance that took my breath away. It was a statuesque blond female – the kind that I couldn't hate even when I was human.

Beside me, Edward's hiss of breath indicated he'd noticed her, too. His abilities apparently gave him an edge, too. "That's her," he hissed, quickly and quietly. "From Alice's vision."

No single concern could have stopped me. My own love of life was insufficient. The power of love with Edward was stronger but it still wasn't enough. Even my intense concern about my daughter, alone, would have been left by the wayside. It was only their combined effect that gave me the power to control myself – not letting Edward see Renesmee grow up and not being a family was simply too high a price. I swallowed my current mouthful of venom, feeling its burning passage from my throat to my stomach. It was almost immediately replaced.

Forcing myself to stop breathing, I worked on ignoring the primal need to hunt. The only safe thing to do was to escape from the tormenting delight that was presented to me.

Except we couldn't, because they were now approaching us. "Excuse me," the blonde said. "Do you happen to know Carlisle Cullen?"

It took two-tenths of a second for her words to make sense to me. Of course we did. But why would some stranger be asking us that in the middle of Nordstrom's in Seattle?

Edward was also immediately suspicious. "Why are you asking us?" He did the talking so I wouldn't have to inhale again. Since he was about a hundred years older than I, it only made sense that he was more immune to the lure of their combined blood.

She smiled at him, flirtingly. I knew my Edward was handsome, but it was completely not fair to hit on him when I was right there. It wasn't like he would be interested, but I still had to swallow another mouthful of venom, burning a trail downward. I barely caught her lilting words. "You just seem like the kind of people who know things."

I couldn't take it any more. I thrust my hand in her face, showing her the ring that I now treasured – my wedding ring. "I know that's my husband," I snapped. It took most of my oxygen, but it was worth it. I had no reason to be jealous, but she was an attractive woman and I still hadn't fully accepted my own transformation from plain to vampire.

The man's face went blank for a moment, almost like he was having an epileptic seizure. His eyes blinked funnily and he held his breath. It passed in under a quarter of a second, and I only noticed because of my heightened vampire senses. I would have never noticed the subtle signs as a human.

Beside me, however, Edward stiffened suddenly. I had seen Edward fight other vampires, stop a car with his bare hands, and run for hours faster than a cheetah. I have been with him through great emotional stress – both joy and anger. I even had horrible memories of Edward writhing in pain on the ground, thanks to one vicious member of the Volturi guard. I thought I had seen everything.

What I had never seen was the sight of him limply collapsing to the ground, unconscious or dead.

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_Reviews are always appreciated._


	6. Broken Rock

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy and Mrs. Arathorn73 for beta reads and comments._

Vampires react instantly to everything. Our minds are faster and more keenly attuned than humans'. We can move faster than people think. Decisions I would have agonized over for days when I was human barely even register.

But when Edward fell, I just stood there. For a fraction of a second, I thought he was joking, so I didn't catch him. But when he didn't get up immediately, I couldn't process what was happening. He was my rock – my anchor in the world even before I fully joined his world. An entire second passed and I was still rooted to the spot. At least he didn't appear to have damaged the floor too badly.

I couldn't focus. What could possibly strike down a vampire? Was it somehow connected to the two strangers before us? But how could it be? What should I do? I thought this feeling of utter helplessness would be gone once I was a vampire. Especially so after we sent the Volturi away with their tails between their collective legs.

Now, though, I was paralyzed with indecision, doubt, and fear. I felt like an observer as the woman yelled out "Call 9 – 1 – 1." Each word was strangely slow and hollow. I could even hear the echoes coming off the ceiling and each individual wall of the store.

I knew I had to do something. I had to help Edward. I was his wife and I needed him. I was simply not complete without him. An old feeling of emptiness struck deep in my belly, and I wrapped my arms around myself instinctively. He was gone. Again.

Everything still felt strangely detached as I watched her bend over my Edward, putting her cheek near his mouth. "He's not breathing!" she yelled. I wanted to say that, of course he wasn't breathing. We only breathe to fit in and to feed our acute senses information.

She felt his wrist, doing things I knew wouldn't help but that I vaguely recalled from my own CPR training. When I was human. Before my life really began. "There's no pulse." She straddled his torso and pushed down on his chest, hard. That perfect breast of his didn't respond at all.

I noted her friend had his phone out and was talking. "He just collapsed. Sarah's administering CPR now." Her name was Sarah. How uninteresting.

Then she leaned towards his mouth and suddenly I could move again. Her lips were not going to touch his. I honestly could not say whether it was jealousy or fear for our destruction if she came in contact with his venom that suddenly clarified things for me.

I reached down with one hand and pulled this Sarah off of my Edward. I didn't even care that she was airborne when I let go.

Then I reached down and gently cradled him in my arms. "I'm taking him home now." I don't know who I was talking to. I just had to say something.

Forcing myself to move slowly to keep our secret, I ran as slowly as I possibly could to our waiting Volvo. Putting Edward gingerly into his seat, I decided the time for hiding was past. It was time to get Edward home.

While I drove us to Forks, where we live, I called Carlisle. He's the oldest of us all and the one who understands vampires best. If anyone could help Edward, it would be him. I described to him everything that had happened. He was as baffled as I was, but he agreed to meet us when we returned.

It is exactly 140 miles, 217 yards, 2 feet, and 5 inches from the Nordstrom's parking lot to our house. It took me 51 minutes and 4 seconds. I would have been faster, but the traffic in Seattle was pretty thick. I even wondered if we got bumped from behind at one point, but I was too lost in my worry over Edward and explaining the situation to Carlisle.

As soon as the car had screeched to a halt, I was out the door and carrying Edward to the door. Alice, Esme, Rosalie, and Carlisle were all waiting anxiously, and Carlisle bent to work as soon as I had laid Edward on the couch in the main living room.

"Where's Nessie?" I asked, looking around distractedly. Nessie is Renesmee's nickname. I had fought the nickname for a long time, but even I used it in moments of great stress or great relief. Without Edward, she was my greatest grounding force and I could really use her little hands on my face.

Esme and Rosalie shared a glance. Vampires don't forget things, generally. "She's with Jacob all day, remember? He was so excited."

That's right. I had completely forgotten. I knew, of course, but the present situation put everything out of my head. Jacob was Nessie's favorite baby-sitter. He also loved to baby-sit her, so it all worked out. They were probably due back before too long.

I watched Carlisle for a minute or so. His behavior was very odd. He would move quickly from one point to another or put his hands on Edward in one place. At times, though, he would freeze in place for seconds at a time, questing for something. He felt, he listened, he sniffed. All the while his frown grew larger.

None of us dared breathe. We wouldn't do anything to disturb the total focus of Carlisle's examination. We stood like statues, as one minute became five and five became ten.

Finally, my father-in-law looked up. "He's not dead. But I don't understand what's going on. I wish I had an EEG. It's almost like he's in a coma or something. I've never seen anything like it."

"Can … can you help him?" I whispered in my fear.

"I will try." And then he was gone, out the door and speeding away in his car.

I turned to Alice and advanced menacingly on her. "Alice," I said, baring my teeth in what I hoped was a reasonable approximation of a smile. "I need to know when he gets better."

Alice's beautiful face turned to mine. "Bella," she started.

"I need to know when he gets better." I emphasized the word 'when', because I refused to admit any other possibilities.

"I can't see. I've tried. Every time I get close, some part of me stops myself. It's like …. This is going to sound weird."

"Tell me." I'd never heard my voice so hard and flat before.

"It's like when you were human. Your body just stopped you from putting your hand into a fire. There's something about this situation that is dangerous to vampires and I can't make myself try to see past or around or through it. My vampire instincts just prevent it." She patted me on my arm. "I'm so sorry, Bella."

I refused to accept it. None of it made any sense. This was my Edward, my protector. He was always the strong, confident one. The one in control of any situation. He was not the kind to just lie there on the couch while things happened around him.

I went over to the couch and knelt by his head. Leaning forward, I kissed him. He didn't kiss back. Those lips that had provided me such pleasure and held such promise were cold and limp.

"I guess you're not Prince Charming." Esme said it softly and gently, but I whirled on her.

"Do you have a better idea? Is there something else you can think of? Because I'm very open to ideas!" I was screaming at her, unfairly, I knew, but she was there. She stood calmly and took it. "I know I'm new to this whole vampire thing, but I thought we were supposed to be virtually indestructible. How is this possible? Huh? Tell me that. Just don't tell me that I'm not supposed to do everything I can to get him back."

I slumped on the floor. I wished I could cry, because I felt like a good cry would help. Running and feeling the wind was also appealing, but I couldn't leave Edward, even to help myself cope.

"What happened, dear? Tell us everything." An eternity had passed in my mind, but it was probably only a few seconds on the clock.

"We were shopping for Alice. Actually, we'd about given up and were just getting me some more clothes I'd actually wear." I paused for the expected gasp of Alice's disapproval, but it didn't come. Apparently, I wasn't the only one freaked out by Edward's state.

I continued the story. "We met a couple of humans. I …" I didn't want to share the details of how I was essentially hunting in the middle of the day in downtown Seattle. "Well, we just kinda ran into them."

I looked right at Alice. "It was the woman from your vision. Edward told me that. She said her name was Sarah." I used to be forgetful with things, but apparently some part of my vampire brain was functioning properly.

"Anyway," I continued, "we talked a bit and then Edward collapsed. She was trying to administer CPR, but I stopped her before she could get near Edward's mouth, so she wouldn't come in contact with his venom."

Rosalie spoke in her perfect, alluring voice. "You just talked? Did anything else happen?"

I wracked my brain. "It seemed the man with her had some kind of mini-seizure or something."

"Well," Alice said brightly. "Why don't we ask them what happened?"

We all stared at her in disbelief. "How?" Esme asked.

"They'll be here in about two minutes."

My mind hardened. If they were responsible for my Edward's condition, they'd wish I had simply sucked their blood dry in Seattle.

_Comments/reviews appreciated._


	7. Chasing a Hunch

_This section describes older time from another perspective. Thanks to natty and Mrs. Arathorn for beta reads._

**Part III:  
Sarah's Story**

All agents are trained in CPR, so it was natural to immediately spring into action once the handsome stranger in Nordstrom's collapsed. Something wasn't quite right, but I was too intent on trying to save his life to put my finger on it, when I felt myself being lifted and hurled through the air.

It was far from the first time I'd been sent sailing through the air by a fellow combatant. Still, the forcefulness of the throw, especially coming from a teen-ager smaller than I was, rattled me a bit. As my flight continued, I twisted around to find my landing zone and to plan how to minimize the collateral damage.

Luckily, my flight's trajectory would end in a table of men's sweaters. The sweaters wouldn't help much, but a table really helps break falls. The table would break, absorbing much of the impact, so that my bones wouldn't have to.

I mentally braced as I forced my body to hit squarely. After a short toss, tucking and rolling is the best. After being thrown a good thirty feet, though, I needed to let my entire body absorb the impact.

The impact knocked the wind out of my lungs and splintered the table. Some of the lacerations from the previous night's fight reopened and started oozing blood. All-in-all, it went really well; I was fortunate to have not suffered worse injury.

Scrambling to my feet, I sought my assailant. I didn't figure the odds were in my favor, but it was not in my nature to surrender without a fight. Only one figure was rushing towards me and it was the only one that could approach me without triggering any defensiveness. I turned from Chuck and scanned the full area. I couldn't detect anything but that didn't calm me much after the day we'd been having.

"Chuck, what happened?"

"She picked him up and took off. What should we do?"

"Which way?"

"Th – that…" he started, while pointing approximately the direction I'd flown.

"Come on!" I said as I grabbed his shirt and started running.

Normally, I had to slow my pace, at least a little, when I was running with Chuck, even when I had heels on. Athleticism wasn't exactly his strongest point. This time, even with my adrenaline pumping, I was struggling to keep up. Lack of sleep and injuries were conspiring to limit my efficacy. If I was going to have any chance of handling future challenges, I would need to get some rest soon.

Beside me, Chuck was panting. "Are … you sure … we should be … chasing … them?"

The parking lot was approaching. Despite our frantic pace, we were steadily falling behind. I mentally crossed my fingers and turned us towards where I had parked my car. I didn't have the breath to spare to answer Chuck.

We scrambled into the car and I swung into the parking lot. Luck was with us, for once, and I spied the beautiful brunette we were pursuing getting into the driver's seat of a silver Volvo only one row over.

If she drove anything like I expected, though, I wouldn't be able to tail her for long. "Chuck, look in the glove compartment for a tracking device and a magnetic mount."

He opened the door immediately and a few gadgets spilled out onto his lap. "Uh … Sarah, I've never seen these things at Buy More. What am I looking for again?"

I knew the speed of the whatever-it-was we were following. A glance was more than I could spare. "Tracking device – looks like an eye with an antenna."

It was less than a second before I heard "Got it."

"Magnetic mount. Looks kind of like a small Frisbee or coffee holder with a screw in the middle." I ran the very latest part of a freshly-red light that was at all safe, swerving through the left-turn lane to pass a car in front of us that had already stopped.

I listened to him rustle for a moment. "OK. Connect them?"

I was so proud. He was actually performing well in a high-pressure situation. It's been over two years, but he was finally learning how to not babble at inopportune times. "Yes. Then, when I say the word, throw the two at that silver Volvo up there."

"Throw?" He nearly choked on the word.

"Yes, Chuck, throw. You can do this. I believe in you." The strange thing was that I really did believe in him. Trust was hard for me, but I trusted Chuck, even with something this far outside his comfort zone.

A light ahead of the Volvo turned red and I knew this was our best chance. I maneuvered as close as possible, which was about a half car-length away in the adjoining lane. "Now."

He pulled his arm back and threw from his shoulder. The missile arced toward the Volvo in slow-motion before it hit. It hit the back windshield, unfortunately, and bounced off. It spun through the air and attached to the rear bumper, in almost exactly the spot a professional would place it, where it was invisible from most angles.

"YES!" Chuck did a goofy little victory dance in the seat beside me. His enthusiasm was infectious and I found myself smiling.

I punched a couple buttons on the dashboard and soon had a bead on the bogie. They were traveling west. If I remembered my geography correctly, that meant they only had limited options. Unless they took to the air or the water. After the last twenty-four hours, I almost expected them to drive to the bottom of the ocean and live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

My somber thoughts were interrupted by Chuck. "OK, Sarah, would you mind explaining to me why we're chasing these two through Washington? I thought we were going to find Carlisle Cullen."

"Call it a hunch. I think they will lead us to this Carlisle Cullen." I hesitated a few breaths before I added. "They're also both like that thing that's been chasing us all day. I don't believe it's a coincidence. Somehow, it all ties together."

"They're like … but that thing moved so fast and seemed to want to kill us. They were talking and everything. Are you sure?"

"Same rock-hard skin. Same goosebumps. Plus, did you see how far she casually threw me? And look at the dot – they're going 150 at least. I just hope we can stay in range or find them again." I nosed the Porsche back up over 110. Normally, those speeds don't bother me, but today had not been normal.

"If they're that dangerous, do we really want to follow them?"

"It's that or let our pursuer catch us. Maybe we can find out what happened back there. Something happened to one of them. I'd like to know what. What did you flash on, anyway?"

Chuck took his time answering. Inevitably, that meant a complicated or unsatisfactory answer. "Her ring. It was reported missing from a family estate in the early 1900s. Apparently, all the unsolved criminal cases are up here, too." He pointed to his head. "Owner died of disease and her son was never found. But the picture of him looks a little like the guy who collapsed back there."

My mind tried to mull over this new information, but it was like trying to stir mud with a toothpick. I simply could not make progress on it. The information seemed completely unconnected and I had certainly been part of enough missions with pointless information. On the other hand, it somehow seemed like it was a clue.

A glimpse of motion caught my attention and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid rear-ending a lousy Aveo which had pulled out to pass some other traffic. All attempts at thinking were in vain for a while, as traffic again closed around.

The tracker I'd had Chuck throw had a range of 20 miles. That was normally more than enough, but I was having difficulty staying in range. Unless they did have some method of crossing/entering the ocean, however, it wouldn't matter. We were running out of land.

Finally, the dot slowed and a minute or so later, it stopped completely. I punched the coordinates into my GPS to find the best route to their location. I left the coordinates up as I called Casey, slowing a bit, since it appeared we had a target.

Casey didn't answer, so I left him a message. "Casey, this is Walker. We ran into two more of the same unknown agents in Seattle. One went down to unknown reasons. I've traced them back to 47.96786N 124.36970W. We're in pursuit and will establish a perimeter. Join us soon." I paused and added, "If you died back there, I'm going to kill you."

Chuck looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "We're going all the way in? Alone?"

"I called Beckman while you were asleep this morning. She indicated that she was not comfortable providing aid as long as you seemed to be one of the primary targets and we had so little information." I allowed my disappointment in her decision to seep into my voice.

His face gained that ashen hue it always got when we did something dangerous. But he just nodded and looked at the scenery flying by.

In another 15 minutes, we had turned off the major roads and were on small local roads near Forks. The scenery was incredible – vast trees near mountain ranges and not that far from the ocean. The only downer was the completely overcast sky, keeping everything a uniform grey.

The GPS showed no roads directly to the location of the vehicle, but that Volvo wasn't going to do any cross-country driving. As we neared the location, I slowed down significantly and kept my eyes peeled for any hidden entrances or long driveways. I rolled down my window to smell the fresh air and test its coolness.

I had just spied an opening between trees that looked drivable when a figure darted in front of the car. I slammed on the brake to avoid hitting whoever or whatever it was. Even at the slow speed, our bodies rocked forward and I momentarily lost my concentration on the area around us.

When I looked out again, the car was surrounded by three women. Each was unearthly beautiful, pale, and wore an expression of extreme intensity. One was blonde, one had dark spiky hair and one light brown hair and a heart-shaped face. They all appeared to be in their late teens or early twenties.

The tall blonde outside the car spoke first. "You must be Sarah. We've heard so much about you."

Then the caramel-haired one spoke. "Please don't be rude and stay at the end of the drive. You must come in."

We were expected. And judging by the grace with which these three moved, they, too, were not exactly human.

_Was the time-shift too confusing? Reviews on everything appreciated._


	8. Finally Face to face

Their words and tone were couched as an invitation, but they were clearly an order to enter the driveway. My only other choice was flight and that seemed unlikely to succeed. Besides, we had been discovered. The time for skulking had passed and we needed to take action.

Putting the car in reverse, I backed up the small amount necessary to make the turn I'd noticed scant seconds ago. Following the winding path between trees and other obstacles, I was forced to drive reasonably slowly. All three women kept pace easily, jogging behind and on both sides of the car. Despite the cold, I couldn't see their breath, nor did they seem uncomfortable.

After short drive, we neared a large white house. It looked like an old-style Victorian mansion from the outside, with a number of modern features to emphasize its beauty. A large lawn had been hacked from the surrounding forest and was perfectly manicured.

I parked directly behind the silver Volvo we'd tracked to this spot. It looked in perfect condition, in spite of its hasty drive through Washington. A slight breeze blew as we got out of the car and I saw all three women stiffen almost imperceptibly.

The heart-faced one, who seemed to speak the most, opened the door and led us inside with a polite "Please, come in."

Beside me, I heard Chuck mutter "Said the spider to the fly." Muted guffaws from behind indicated that the comparison was both louder and more apt than I might have originally believed. Being compared to a fly did nothing to ease the tension, which was mounting despite the genial phrases being used. Many maleficent beings masked their evil behind kind and generous words.

Inside, the house was surprisingly open and airy, with light-colored walls and an entire wall given over to windows. Chuck stared at that particular feature longer than was necessary as my eyes swept over the grand piano, large-screen TV, and comfortable furnishings.

On the couch was the man we'd seen in Nordstrom's, still seemingly dead. I looked carefully and saw no breathing nor any sign of life. Kneeling on the floor next to him was the brunette we had followed.

The woman who had invited us in seemed to be the leader. She started introducing the others. "This is Rose." She indicated the stunning blonde. Rose appeared to be in her late teens and was the epitome of beauty with perfect features, pale skin, and oddly orange eyes. Her long flowing hair was still perfectly in place, even after the run through the forest. She didn't appear to be sweating or even breathing hard.

Another gesture and a casual "The little one is Alice" introduced the shortest, by a reasonably significant margin. In addition to what looked to be the latest in European fashion, she wore a smile. Her hair was dark and spiky but the overall look was quite flattering. She, too, had those strange amber eyes that suggested colored contacts or something similar.

Declining to introduce the two at the couch, she continued with herself. "And my name is Esme Cullen. Welcome to our house." Esme looked to be in her early 20s, with the flush of youth still apparent in her flawless skin. Her eyes were almost black, but it was her family name that caught our attention.

Chuck spoke first. "That's fantastic. We came looking for Carlisle Cullen. Is he your father?"

Tinkles of laughter met that question. "No, he's my husband, but he's not here right now."

My impression of both Esme and Carlisle dropped. Since he'd been practicing medicine for over fifty years, according to Chuck, Esme had to be a trophy wife. Or a gold-digger, since the house and everything in it were top-of-the-line. Were the other women there as entertainment, too? What had we stumbled into?

Chuck spoke in a confused voice, "Husband, but I…"

He was interrupted by the opening of the front door. A man in his late 20s rushed past, carrying some sort of medical equipment. I saw his eyes take us in, but he rushed past us to the boy on the couch.

"There's Carlisle now," Esme said. "You'll have to forgive him, he's a little busy right now."

"That's … Carlisle?" Chuck asked with extra fear and deadness in his voice. He seemed to be understanding something.

"Yes. Do you think you could help him? Bella said you were there when Edward collapsed."

Bella had to be the brunette we'd followed here. She was watching everything happening on the couch with terrible intensity. Her jeans and t-shirt fit her well, but her eyes were shockingly blood-red. It was more than tears that had reddened her eyes, as the iris itself was different than what we'd seen in Seattle.

Edward, then, was the one who collapsed. He also appeared to be a teenager, with a body to die for. It was unusual for me to find one person that I felt less-than-beautiful around. Now I was in a roomful and I felt plain, ordinary, and almost insignificant. It was distinctly unpleasant.

"I'm afraid not," I said, as we all moved to see what was going on. Chuck ended near the head of the couch, while I worked to not get surrounded and ended up at the foot. "He just collapsed."

Carlisle moved with extreme precision and speed, attaching sensors to the seemingly-dead man's temples and the back of his head, shaving away hair quickly and efficiently. It only took a few seconds before he started to look at the readings, shaking his head and muttering indistinctly under his breath. From my vantage, all I could see was that the needles were moving, which was odd, because Edward was definitely still not breathing.

I turned my attention from him to the others watching. They didn't seem to be breathing, so intent was their concentration. I looked closer; they weren't actually breathing. None of them were. I blinked and suddenly they seemed to be breathing normally again. I closed my eyes tightly for a moment. I must have been more tired than I'd thought.

Part of being an agent is being aware of everything around you. I was used to people around me acting and hiding things. Nobody had ever taken it to the extreme these people did. Everything they did seemed to be designed for our benefit, as if nothing was real. It was absurd, but I felt like everything was phony.

Even their breathing seemed artificial. Yes, their chests were moving and their shoulders were swaying, but I couldn't hear or detect any true inhalations, except from Carlisle himself. The others appeared to be going through the motions without necessarily actually breathing. I tried to shake off what had to be a dream encroaching into my waking life.

Carlisle spoke clearly then. "I really need a baseline reading. I've never done this before with …." He looked right at me then and stopped.

Bella spoke immediately. "I'll do it." Without seeming to move at all, she was suddenly lying on the floor at the foot of the couch, with her head only a foot from Edward's. The transfer of cables was done very quickly, as I watched in dumb-founded amazement. I had never seen anyone move so quickly and so precisely. Even before her removed hair hit the ground, Carlisle was straightening.

Once again, the doctor bent over his instruments, but I could tell the needles weren't moving.

He spoke softly, "Bella, could you…." He trailed off. For a moment, the needles moved, but it was short-lived.

Bella said, "I'm sorry. I can't." I wondered what she couldn't do.

"I'll do it," Chuck offered as Carlisle started stripping the cable from Bella.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I told him warningly. "But I'd be willing to help out."

Carlisle hesitated every so slightly before replying. "I don't think it would do any good either." He looked first at Alice who protected her hair and shook her head. Rose reacted similarly, but Esme was in place before he even looked at her.

Another transfer of cables happened in a heartbeat. Once Esme was connected, the needles on the machine started immediately moving, but I couldn't track their progress from my vantage point.

"Fascinating." Carlisle said. "Edward is definitely alive, but his mind seems to be trapped in some kind of perpetuating loop."

Bella said, "What can you do to help him?"

Carlisle replied. "I don't know. From my quick analysis, it seems to be getting more extreme instead of less. We need to do something quickly, but I have no idea how to break into his consciousness."

Bella frantically flung her arms around Edward. "Come back to me. I need you." She gently caressed his face, while we all watched awkwardly.

Carlisle was the first to recover, as a frown appeared on his face. "One mystery remains unresolved. Perhaps we can make progress on the other one." Looking directly at me, he asked pleasantly, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

I swallowed nervously. He seemed friendly and distinctly non-threatening. At least, nothing was overtly threatening, but he struck me as a very powerful individual – the kind you didn't fool with lightly. "We came to ask you about the Volturi."

All eyes turned to me when I said the last word. I was the subject of intense scrutiny, which was not exactly comfortable. Some hidden menace surrounded these beings, and I had no idea what it was. The mention of 'Volturi' brought that menace to the forefront.

Again, the young-looking doctor replied. "How do you know that term?"

"I believe it goes with this." I showed him the medallion I had pulled off our pursuer less than twenty-four hours ago.

"May I?" he asked, before taking it from me. He looked at it carefully and smelled it. "That's Demetri's. How did you come by it?"

"We were attacked last night by a … figure wearing that medallion. I managed to rip it off of him and escape."

"Wait," Rose interjected. "You escaped from Demetri? How?"

"Mostly luck. And a large wrecking ball." I looked over at Chuck, but he was staring intently at our captors and missed my eye. I could see he was concentrating deeply on something. I hoped it would help us out of this situation.

"Remarkable," Carlisle breathed. "But how did you get the word 'Volturi' from this reasonably unremarkable medallion?"

I took a deep breath, knowing I had to skate around the truth with very accomplished liars. Those who play with the truth frequently are very good at recognizing it. Or its lack, which was my problem in this case. I decided to tell the truth but not the whole truth. "I am with the U.S. government. We have pretty extensive intelligence resources. One of them was able to identify this medallion with the term 'Volturi' and direct us to find Carlisle here."

Carlisle thought a moment. "I remember having a discussion about the Volturi some years ago in a public location. I thought no one was listening. I guess I need to be more careful."

"So, can you help us?"

He smiled in a resigned sort of way. "I'm afraid not."

"Why not?"

"I am not interested in furthering that particular group's enmity for me at this time."

Chuck interjected himself into the conversation at that point. "I didn't realize your kind had enemies." He turned from the window wall, which he had been studying intently. "But I know what you are and a thing or two about your kind. Maybe I can get you to change your mind."

His announcement was met with snarls and eyes full of anger and fear.

_Reviews and assessments appreciated._


	9. Secrets

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy and Mrs. Arathorn for many helpful comments on this chapter. I really leaned on them a lot this chapter._

_I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I claim no ownership over Twilight or Chuck, save that which any fan has. Kudos to the original creators of these characters. I stand on their shoulders, be they writer or actor.  
_

Bella was the first to react to Chuck's words. She almost flew from her spot by her seemingly dead husband to stand in front of my boyfriend. "What did you say?" Her voice held menace.

Before Chuck could answer, Carlisle defended him. "Bella, be reasonable. How could he know?"

"I figured it out. If I can do it, anyone can."

Esme commented, "You had lots of help, dear. Hints from all sides and many days." Turning to Chuck, she asked, "Just what do you think you know?"

I recognized Chuck's nervous smile. It was his semi-lying smile. I only hoped it wasn't as obvious to them as it was to me. "I've read a lot of books. It all fits, with certain exceptions." Again, he looked at the large picture window, shaking his head. "I guess certain facts got misrepresented."

Alice nodded her agreement. "That does happen." It sounded like a confirmation of his guess, but he'd never voiced the guess aloud. I could only assume that Alice had deduced his guess from the clues, but it must have been easier knowing the solution to the puzzle.

"Well," Chuck said abruptly, clapping his hands together, "thank you for your time. I think we should be going now."

I didn't know why Chuck was suddenly so anxious to escape. We knew the situation was dangerous when we came. It seemed to me to be getting better, not worse. "What? Now? Why?"

"Yes," Rose said, placing herself between Chuck and the door. "Why are you so anxious to go?"

"Acute case of self-preservation."

Carlisle was very reasonable and calm. You could almost hear the shrug as he spoke. "If they want to leave, I don't know why we should stop them."

Bella answered, "Because they have something to do with Edward's state. I just know it." She pointed at Chuck. "I think it's him."

Chuck has a bad habit of babbling under pressure. That's a habit which I've really encouraged him to break, because it's going to get him killed someday.

I could only hope that day wasn't upon us as he opened his mouth. "I didn't touch him. There's no way I could have done anything to him unless he was telepathic or something and even then, I don't think –"

"Telepathic?" Bella's voice broke into his.

"You know, can read minds. But –"

Bella spoke flatly. "He can." I wondered how, since that technology seemed ages away. I don't believe in magic or the occult or any of that hocus-pocus garbage. I knew how stage magic really worked. I'd even picked up some coins as a young teenager by posing as a fortune-teller. It was similar to so-called mind-readers. All it took was attention to detail about a person and a ready wit. It certainly shouldn't cause death, as it appeared to have in Edward's case.

Chuck bought the story about reading minds hook, line, and sinker, however. I wondered inwardly how such a smart person could be so oblivious sometimes. "Oh." He said, "Well … in that case … I don't know. I suppose it's possible that …."

"Chuck," I said with warning in my voice. "Think about what you're saying. And how ridiculous you sound." But I was the only one who seemed to think his concern was completely unfounded. Carlisle seemed to think it was a revelation and returned to the print-outs from the EEG machine. The others all moved a few steps closer to Chuck, who was starting to turn as pale as everyone else in the room.

Carlisle took a friendly approach. "What do you mean, it's possible? If you could explain, maybe I could do something to help him."

Chuck frowned as he responded. "Well, my brain isn't like everyone else's. If he -"

"That's enough," I interrupted, with a meaningful look.

They all turned to look at me. Their baleful glares were surprisingly powerful. Carlisle asked, "What don't you want us to know?"

I looked back calmly and with assurance, like I would in any dangerous situation when I needed to bluff my way out. "We are entitled to our secrets, too." I emphasized the last word, though I still wasn't sure what secrets they were hiding. Bluffing held its dangers, but it was all I had.

Chuck, though, didn't heed my warning. "Oh, no. That must be it. I knew it was dangerous. I just didn't know how dangerous it was."

"It was you," Bella said and proceeded to stalk forward toward Chuck. I moved quickly to intercept, only to be casually stopped by the other blonde, Rose. Her grip was iron-hard and I knew I couldn't break it without triggering full-scale hostilities, a plan which seemed unwise. Even a full-fledged assault was no guarantee, as I felt the strength in her fingers on my arm.

"Bella," Alice pleaded in a voice so quiet I could barely hear her. "Please, don't."

"Don't what?" Esme asked.

Alice spoke again, in that near-whisper, while Bella walked towards a retreating Chuck. "Don't kill him. It's the trigger. If you attack him, she's going to destroy us."

Rose looked at me in disbelief, as I realized they must have known I was the 'she' that Alice mentioned. "Her? How?"

I wondered how she knew that, when I had just made up my mind to do that very thing. I didn't know how, but if they destroyed Chuck, I would not rest until every last person in this room was wiped off the face of the Earth. I was certain I hadn't let the decision reach me physically at all.

"The Volturi. She knows enough that they'll be able to figure out a way past Bella's mental shield." Alice explained. At least, it seemed like an explanation, though the concept was something that seemed to be more the stuff of dreams than of reality. A mental shield? I pinched myself to make certain I was awake. The pain was real. Then again, so were the needles on the EEG, which behaved oddly. That was easy to fabricate, however, via remote control.

"So, when you saw her …" Esme paused and looked at Chuck and me before choosing her words carefully. "Her … interesting actions that you described this morning, during a painful process, the cause of that was not one of us?"

"No. It was Caius. He found her enchanting."

I felt like what they were saying was important, but all my focus was on the dark-haired teenager walking after Chuck. He was backing away from her, slowly, with his hands held in front of him in a placating manner.

At that very moment, the front door opened and a very large Native American man carrying a small girl walked in. The man was huge, at least six-foot eight and built in a way that would have made Colt (a very large enemy spy I was not anxious to encounter again) jealous. I registered a quick thought to not pick a fight with him anytime too soon.

The young girl looked like a combination of Edward and Bella, but her skin wasn't quite as pale. She squirmed out of the man's arms and dropped lightly to the floor, almost unnoticed. The man looked around the room and stayed in the doorway, ready to move in any direction. I'd seen that studied posture of disinterest before. Fight and flight were both very possible from him, at a moment's notice.

Bella addressed us all, including the new-comer, without taking her eyes off Chuck's retreating form. "He's responsible for Edward's condition. He knows about us. That's against the rules. We just recovered from the last time the Volturi came and now they have reason to return. And we'd be all alone. No. I'll stop all that right now."

"Bella, please." I wasn't sure if Alice or Esme was pleading for restraint – it wasn't Rose for the words came from across the room. All I could do was watch helplessly and hope that Bella would listen.

"Don't 'please' me. You all have killed. I know you have. Everybody in here is a killer. Except for me. Well, that's one more exclusive club I guess I have to join." She tensed as if to spring.

This time it was clearly Esme's voice. "No, you don't, Bella."

Bella asked, "Who's going to stop me? You all know I'm the strongest here." Around me, I could feel the others' mute acknowledgement of that fact, which seemed odd, because she clearly wasn't the leader of this strange group. Nor did she look or act like typical hired muscle.

"I won't fight you," Carlisle said calmly. "But I will try to reason with you. I haven't killed anyone." That statement caused a falter in her step. That surprised me, because I knew neither Chuck nor I could make that statement. Nor could the leader of any criminal faction I was familiar with. It reassured me that we might yet make it out of this situation alive. Might.

As quickly as the falter in Bella's step appeared, however, it disappeared. "Not even a newborn?" The thought was anathema. Were they baby-killers, too? I'd run into a number of terrible individuals, but I don't think any had killed a newborn.

"Not even, then, Bella. Remember Bree? That was my doing. I don't take sentient life."

Her momentum faded as Chuck continued to retreat. He was nearing the door now. But the large man stood blocking his final egress. As my curly-haired man moved past the door, the dark-skinned man stepped out and stood in front of Bella.

"Bella, it's me, Jacob," he said. "I don't know what's going on here, but there has to be another way."

I watched her hesitate to cross the big man Jacob, but something about the hesitation surprised me like so many things did in this strange home. She didn't pause as if worried about physical restraint or intimidation. It was the way I would pause if Casey would ask me to reconsider – a trusted friend providing valuable input.

It wasn't enough, however, as she sidestepped him and continued to pursue Chuck. "I've got to get Edward back. He's the problem. Getting rid of him will save Edward."

This time, the large man did physically intervene. Grabbing her left arm with his right, he yanked on it, in an attempt to get her to face him. "You don't know that. It could just make it worse." She didn't slow an instant as her right hand lashed out into his forearm. The distinctive sound of bone breaking filled the room.

"Anybody else want to try to stop me from saving the man I love?" she snarled, now only inches from Chuck. He had run out of room in his retreat and was now facing a ridiculously strong, enraged being intent on his destruction.

_As always, comments, reviews, likes/dislikes, hopes/hopes against, etc. are tremendously appreciated._


	10. Awakening

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy and Mrs. Arathorn for the beta reads and comments._

**Part IV:  
Edward's Story**

I woke up on the couch, with the sound of my Bella threatening someone. That may not seem so strange, but it was the first time I had woken up in over a hundred years. It was almost as peculiar to hear Bella threatening someone, as she was normally so calm and down-to-earth.

Then her words registered – she was threatening somebody trying to protect me. I focused on my surroundings. I was on the couch at home in Forks. The last thing I really remembered before that was being in Nordstrom's in Seattle. I had been casually reading the minds of the wonderful-smelling human couple when something completely unexpected had occurred.

The man's mind had exploded into a torrent of images, sounds, and sensory input. Even now, they called to me, daring me to explore their depths and to try to plumb their secrets. I had a new complication in life. A part of my brain was now off-limits to me. I knew that if I started down that road, I would again get lost and trapped in the sensations provided there.

I wondered how I had ever managed to find myself again. I also tried to determine how much time had passed while I was unconscious. Concentrating gave me the answer to the first question. An image had forced itself into my consciousness, to the point where I could not ignore it. The picture was of me, lying down on a couch. Somehow, the picture was presented as an insistent question. The image had come from Renesmee.

Renesmee's unique ability is to communicate via images. Somehow, she pushes images into people's brains. No one seems to be able to resist her. Apparently, not even the black hole which now existed in my brain was sufficient to keep her out. For that, I was incredibly relieved. While investigating the hole had been interesting, my life was too valuable and too good, now, to be tossed away so casually.

All these ruminations had taken a mere fraction of a second. I stood quickly and responded to Bella's question about who might stop her. "I would stop you. Don't harm him!"

An instant later, I was back on the couch, buried under a flurry of kisses, only interrupted by heated instructions to never ever even think of leaving her again. Bella can be quite demonstrative, when the mood is right. I tried to push her off, but she clung insistently to me.

"Bella, dear, what happened?" I whispered to her.

"You just collapsed. It was that man's fault. And he's here now." It took her a while to get the words out, as she continued to rain kisses on me – on my lips, my face, my neck and any other exposed skin.

"Then can we save this for a more opportune time?" I had to concentrate to get the words out, as Bella's ministrations were affecting me far more than those who know me would have ever believed. I don't tend to show a lot of emotion, but I feel it very strongly – at least as strongly as others. I know, because I've heard and felt their emotions. However, as much as I wanted to rush away with Bella to our love cottage, a threat to my brain still remained. I could smell him in the room. "And how about shielding me, to save me from whatever he can do?"

Her display of affection ceased immediately. Apparently, the threat of more harm to me overrode other needs and desires. I can't feel anything different when she shields me. Without some attack, it's impossible to know. Very gingerly, I reached out mentally and more actively read the male human's mind. _Vampires kissing! Now I've seen everything._

"I thought you were going to protect me." I kept my voice very quiet, hoping we wouldn't be overheard.

"I am," she replied in the same manner.

"I can still read his thoughts."

We both puzzled over that conundrum a few milliseconds. Bella's mind shield protected her from my ability to read minds, from psychological attacks, and other probes. With effort, she can extend the shield to protect others. Apparently, though, it didn't protect me from the human male's thoughts.

As I turned over those concepts, my brain fully caught up with what he had been thinking. "How does he know we're vampires?" I asked, still under my breath.

"He just … figured it out."

I took stock of the larger situation, looking over the back of the couch. Jacob was standing in the doorway, holding his arm, glaring at Bella. The two humans were in different parts of the room, with Rose restraining the woman. They were still dressed in the same clothes they had been wearing in Nordstrom's and the female's wounds were still oozing a little blood, so it was probably still the same day.

The rest of my family, except Carlisle, looked very tense and aggravated. I realized the reason almost immediately. The smell. The glorious combined odor of the two humans was a powerful drug and it was hitting all of us. A closer inspection of their minds showed how strongly it was affecting all of us, with one exception. Carlisle, somehow, was basically immune to the lure of human blood at this point. His self-control was unreal and an inspiration to us all.

It wasn't as bad for me either, because I had spent much of the last two years in the presence of Bella as a human, and her blood had sung for me like nothing else possibly could. For the others, though, the pain of not attacking would be excruciating. I could read in their minds their deliberate fake breathing and the way the smell had produced venom, which always burned when not used. Refraining from attacking humans demanded its price from us. Fortunately, Jasper was not there, because he's the least able to restrain our natural instincts to drink human blood.

Only a few seconds had passed since I had awakened, and the domino effect of that action was still on-going. Carlisle was the first to note my recognition of the situation and freedom from Bella's grasp. He asked me "Do you know what happened?"

"Sort of. Something in his mind," I pointed at the man, "overwhelmed my mental system. I was drawn in and could not escape on my own. Only Renesmee was able to save me." I reached over and ruffled her hair, drawing a pleased grin in response.

"Really?" The man seemed interested. "Like in Star Trek, when they were going to destroy the Borg by placing a fractally deep encoding in their collective until it consumed all their cycles in analysis?"

"Something like that," I agreed. "Can you stop it from happening again?"

He blanched. "No … not really. I can't … fully control when it happens."

I felt the danger inherent in that statement. I can't really stop reading people's minds either. It's automatic for me, like thinking or hearing. The best way I can explain is that it's like a heartbeat is for a human.

Apparently, the human female had a different concern. "Chuck," she warned, "that's enough."

"OK, Sarah," he replied meekly.

"That's not enough for me," Bella said. "If he's a walking danger to Edward, then something needs to be done."

I guess we weren't quiet enough in our earlier discussion. Chuck must have overheard because he now made a recommendation to my wife. "Maybe if you shielded me, instead of him, we would both be safe." It made sense, if his mind was normal to him, it presented no obvious threat for Bella's shield to stop. Shielding Chuck, though, would serve the purpose of saving me from his thoughts, because it kept out **my** ability to read his mind.

Suddenly, his mind was closed to me. The plan worked, which was a tremendous relief. Only a few seconds later, however, and his thoughts started wavering through. _This is too weird._

"It's hard," Bella groused. "His mind is different than ours. And I've not exactly had an easy day."

Carlisle contributed an idea. "Would proximity help? Maybe if you touched him …"

Hesitantly, Bella reached out and I watched Chuck fight not to squirm away too obviously from her touch. His thoughts slammed shut again, but I saw Bella's face distort in pain. I knew what she was feeling – warm blood pulsing beneath thin flesh, just crying out to be drunk. Her instinct was to feed and fighting it wasn't easy, especially with the onslaught of delicious aromas she couldn't miss while breathing in to talk.

I turned to the woman, Sarah. "It might be easier for us all if the three of us talked a bit while you get cleaned up. Carlisle here is a doctor and could tend to your wounds." Removing her aroma would help Bella. The blood and mixing of her scent with Chuck exacerbated the desire to feed. That desire, unquenched, led directly to physical pain.

I could see in Sarah's mind the events of the previous night and the numerous lacerations she had on her body. Her memory of her blood caused a physical reaction within me, but I had become quite adept at fighting those urges and I felt no more than momentary discomfort and a small swallow of venom disappearing down my throat.

Her escape from Demetri was nothing short of miraculous. Physically, she was completely overmatched, even with the other man in the building. And I had never even heard stories of anyone resisting vampire breath before. The intoxicating power of our breath spells instant capitulation to any human caught in its wake. Except, apparently, it didn't for this woman who had lured a trained member of the Volturi guard to brief dismemberment even after being so stupefied. She bore close watching.

"No," she said, "I'm not leaving Chuck. Not like this."

Carlisle assured her. "You'll be safe. You have my word."

Sarah asked, "What about Chuck?"

Carlisle looked at me and Bella. We both nodded. "He will be safe, too, while you are in this house."

Sarah suffered herself to be led up the stairs by Carlisle. Renesmee chose to follow them up the staircase, her questing for knowledge never satisfied. With that choice made, Esme, Rose, and Alice all joined the train going upstairs – no one in our house surrendered moments with Renesmee without good cause. I knew that Carlisle would take good care of Sarah. If I had to guess, she'd be asleep in a few minutes, too, the way she swayed on her feet a little.

I was a little surprised Jacob stayed with us. He typically either doted on Renesmee or left immediately because the smell of vampires was very unpleasant to him. This time, however, he stayed, flexing the fingers on his right hand while he held his wrist with his left hand.

"Shall we sit?" I motioned Chuck to the couch. "I believe we have much to discuss." He sat nervously, right beside Bella, who kept her hand on his elbow. I couldn't read his mind, so we would have to do this the slow way, talking everything out. I rubbed my hands in anticipation.

_Thoughts/opinions?_


	11. Explanations and a Troubling Decision

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy and Mrs. Arathorn for the beta reads, even when they directly contradict each other! The chapter is better for their input.  
_

My concern for Bella continued to dominate my thoughts. She was obviously concentrating and I could see pain, slightly lessened by the diminishing smell of Sarah (and the growing scent of Jacob) in the room, still present in her beautiful face. I pushed those thoughts from my head, focusing on the matter at hand. I started questioning Chuck. "How did you end up here and what did you think we would be able to do for you?"

Chuck related the day's activities fairly quickly, emphasizing Sarah's bravery and downplaying his own actions. From my quick view into Sarah's mind earlier, though, I could put together more pieces and see his bravery and quick thinking.

After the story of the bare events concluded, however, Chuck faltered. The flow slowed and he started to choose his words carefully and I felt keenly my lack of ability to read his mind. "It's been a very strange day. We were attacked by a vampire, Demetri, I think you called him, though we had no idea who or what he was. We originally came to find out who or what the Volturi is. That was our only clue on how to survive. You obviously recognize the name. What are the Volturi?"

At least he asked an easy question. "The Volturi are the closest thing to royalty among vampires. They are a small group who make and enforce the one rule to keep us safe and hidden among humans."

"What rule?"

"Keep the existence of vampires secret. If humans knew…" Nobody really knew what would happen, but it would be ugly. War would result and both sides would suffer unimaginably. When the Volturi had been young, secrecy had been necessary to keep their food source from fleeing. The balance of power between the human race and vampires may have changed since then, however. It may well be that the old rule now protected our very existence.

Chuck's nervousness, which had been hovering around eight on a one-to-ten scale visibly spiked to a full ten. "Are they … is he … after me because I know about vampires? But, wait, he attacked before I knew."

"Really? You're absolutely certain some part of you didn't know before?" I asked, trying to limit how much I pushed his secret into the light.

"Oh." I could see him searching for words.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's only one possible explanation, anyway."

"What are the others?"

"Well, the Volturi also like to have power. They collect it. You would make an amazingly powerful vampire, don't you think?"

I watched him pale even further. I wondered if he was going to faint. He couldn't even make a coherent sound, let alone a phrase. I turned to Bella. "See? This is how a normal person reacts to that proposition."

She rolled her eyes at me. "And aren't you glad I wasn't normal?"

She had me there. "Well, when you put it that way," I said, leaning in for a kiss, "yes, I am glad you aren't normal." Beside us, Jacob was making gagging noises and putting his fingers down his throat, so we reluctantly returned to the business at hand.

I turned back to Chuck, who was regaining a hint of color. "I can also see Aro wanting to make you part of his collection of unique talents." Noting the confusion on his face, I explained. "Aro is one of the three leaders of the Volturi. Aro, Caius, and Marcus make all the decisions and lead the group. Aro is a collector of unique individuals and if he'd heard rumors of what you have in your head, well, that might be enough to send out Demetri."

Bella interjected, speaking to me. "That wouldn't have worked out so well for Aro, though, would it? He probably couldn't resist touching Chuck. If your reaction to his mind was any indication, the Volturi would be short one member once that happened." She was relaxing some, but I could still sense the strain of protecting Chuck in her features. I doubt anyone else would have noticed, but I had spent many happy hours memorizing every micrometer of her face and I could tell she was still laboring.

"And that's another reason they might have come after you, Chuck," I elaborated, certain my wife was correct. I'd only touched the surface of the malaise in his mind, Aro's deeper mind reading would possibly even be fatal. "What you carry is potentially very dangerous. How did it get in your head, anyway?"

"Through a very painful process," he said, trying to be inscrutable.

Alice's vision about the Volturi slaughtering us came back to me. I searched my memory of her mind. Why were we helpless before them? A flickering light bathed our faces. I also noticed, on closer inspection of her memory, that the members of the Volturi guard were all blindfolded. I also skirted my memories of my time in the black hole – very carefully trying to capture an impression of that time, not the time itself. The clues all fit together.

"Some kind of video feed?" I guessed. His expression told me I was correct.

"How did…" he started before he trailed off.

I now had a dilemma. Chuck hadn't been completely open with me, but it had been hard for him to hide things. I knew something that he and Sarah obviously considered a secret. He knew our biggest secret – what we were. Should I let him in on another one? I decided it probably wouldn't hurt. The man already seemed to host an unlimited number of secrets, what was one more?

"Alice can see probable futures. In one of those, she saw the Volturi slaughtering us, after some other events. We were helpless before them. A video was showing and the Volturi guards were blindfolded. It all fits." As I said it, I knew I was right.

"That would probably work, yes. It sounds like the general process of distributing the information, which is … well, highly dangerous, to say the least. But why would they destroy you? Are you insurgents or something?"

Now it was my turn to pick my worlds carefully. "Our … viewpoints on … certain issues differ from theirs. It is also unusual for so many vampires to live together in one place. They see us as competition and fear us, even though none of us have any desire to rule or take their place."

"Your viewpoints differ, you say. On what?"

"Well," I explained, "a lot of things. But mostly on the topic of diet. Like most vampires, the Volturi subsist on human blood – lots of it. Carlisle taught all of us here a different way. It's a much harder way, but we don't drink human blood. We survive on animals."

"But …" Chuck looked at Bella as he spoke. "She was going to kill me."

I looked at her questioningly. In response, she said, "I thought it might save you. I somehow knew he was responsible. Without you, I'm afraid I'm not the most rational. I was just planning on killing him, but he smells so good, I don't know what would have happened."

Her comment on smell brought me back to the reality of the situation she was facing. A large scrumptious temptation, constantly at fingertip, was a mere fraction of a second away. We had eaten well before our trip into Seattle, but a vampire's thirst for human blood is never really satisfied. It's a constant presence and Bella, as finely controlled as she was, was still relatively young in her life as a vampire. Her control was constantly being tested, even without considering the additional distraction of maintaining a mental shield.

Chuck chose to try to drive the focus away from his near-death and back to me. "So … how did you recover from what happened? We all thought you were … never going to recover."

"I'm not sure, exactly." I was virtually certain it was Renesmee's power, but she was my only child, and I felt the need to protect her. I didn't want to reveal her secrets. It didn't seem worth it.

"Oh." The disappointment was evident in his voice. "I know some others who have been exposed – people I would like to see cured. Maybe, if you figure it out, you could communicate it to me. A doctor like Carlisle could even potentially give the cure as part of a speech without letting on its true purpose."

The concept was good, but the reality was that only Renesmee's touch could save and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to hide her prominent role in the treatment. Maintaining our secret under those circumstances, in paranoid government offices, would be nearly impossible. "I'll keep that in mind," was all I said.

Chuck continued speaking, "And apparently I wouldn't affect everyone like that. Demetri seemed safe enough." He paused and took a deep breath before plunging in. "So, how can we kill a vampire like that?"

"You don't," I answered firmly. "I've never heard of anything less than a hundred humans successfully killing a vampire, and most of those stories are just tales of vampires faking their deaths to slip out of town." I shook my head. "Frankly, I'm amazed you got away from Demetri for even a few hours. I never thought I'd see the day."

"Well," he said a bit proudly, "we're not exactly the standard group of humans. You say we can't kill him. Say that's true. How, then, does anyone kill a vampire? I'm guessing from the window that sunlight won't work and a wooden stake would probably just splinter. How is it done?"

"Tear 'em to shreds and burn the pieces," Jacob surprisingly interjected. He had been silent throughout, watching the conversation and keeping a close eye on Bella. While we had sort of become friends, I knew he still didn't really trust vampires, especially not the Volturi. "But Edward's right. You could never do it."

Chuck turned to me entreatingly. "Then, will you protect us? At least stop this Demetri from killing us?"

I considered the repercussions of that action. The Volturi would certainly know we were involved and would move on us again. Would our friends assemble again to protect if we directly countered the Volturi's wishes for a human life? It was not a guarantee. More pressingly, Bella couldn't be expected to shield Chuck forever. Even our few minutes of conversation were wearing on her. Asking her to do it for what could be several more hours was just begging for trouble. Her control might slip. I could be put under again and there was no guarantee that Renesmee's touch would revive me a second time. Or her control might slip in another way and, instead of protecting Chuck and Sarah, we would be feasting on them.

I didn't like it, but I gave the only answer I could give. "No, we won't."

_Sorry for the delay between chapters, but comments still immensely valued._


	12. Plans

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy and Mrs. Arathorn for their beta reads and comments._

Chuck stood up suddenly. "You won't help?"

I looked to Jacob, who was already speaking, a wolfish grin plastered across his face. "No, but I will."

"How can you help?" Chuck asked. "I thought humans didn't stand a chance against a vampire."

"Me and my pa … friends," Jacob began, "have made a study of killing vampires. We're quite good at what we do."

"That's what I was hoping," I said, because it was exactly the outcome I had been looking for.

Chuck was looking between the two of us incredulously. "Wha…" The word died unspoken on his lips and I was suddenly shoving my whole being against Bella's mind, scrabbling to reach the untold delights and infinite possibilities I could sense flashing through Chuck's mind. My conscious restraint completely shattered and I was a wild thing, consumed with passion for I-did-not-know-what.

An eternity passed, while I slammed against that impenetrable shield again and again. Bella's eyes opened wider at the ferocity of my assault. I wanted, no, I needed to read his mind at that moment. It was a sensation unlike any I'd ever experienced before.

Then, as quickly as it arose, the fit passed, like an epileptic seizure. Physically, I had not moved but I felt as though I'd been heavily exerting myself for hours. Less than a second of time as others perceived it had passed, but I had suffered days of agony while whatever-it-was had happened in Chuck's mind.

Bella was the only one to notice my distress. And I hers. Her shield was strong, fortunately, and it appeared that I had gotten the short end in our mental struggle, for which I was sincerely thankful. Losing was rarely fun, but it was necessary in this case. Chuck was more dangerous than I'd ever imagined.

Chuck stared oddly at Jacob's wrist and I noticed his bracelet had become visible. The only true male human in the house muttered, half to himself, "A lycanthrope? I thought they were just stories. Of course, I thought the same about vampires until a few hours ago. But what good is a werewolf against a vampire? What if it's day or there's no full moon?"

Jacob's eyes were wide. I knew he didn't guard that secret as closely as we guarded our secrets, but Chuck's revelation had caught him off-guard. While he collected himself, I filled in some details. "Jacob and his pack aren't true werewolves. They are shape-shifters who can control which form they appear in, human or wolf. In human form, no, they're no match for a vampire. As wolves, though, they are formidable, even against such an accomplished tactician as Demetri. You will be as safe under his care as you would be under ours."

Jacob scoffed. "As safe? Pffttt. They'll be safer with us and you know it. It also keeps your hands clean."

"Exactly," I concurred, glad he had agreed with my reasoning. "Now," I turned to Chuck, "you will need camping gear and a reasonable excuse to be in the woods for an extended period of time. Can you do that?"

"We didn't bring anything with us, not even warm clothes," he said. I could tell that this was all coming at him very fast, but he was doing his best to cope. Frankly, I was impressed with his ability to process so much so rapidly, regardless of what had been done to his brain. "But justifying time in the woods could be called a lover's getaway. Close enough to the truth that it will work."

"Great," I said. "The reason was the hard part. We have all kinds of unused camping gear around here. You're quite welcome to borrow or even just take some of it. It's all good quality stuff but not so exotic as to attract attention. And we should be able to find some clothes that fit well enough."

_What about the smell?_ Jacob thought.

"Good point," I said to him and then I noticed the confused look on Bella and Chuck's faces. I get into the habit of answering thoughts too easily. "We need to do something about the smell." Bella understood immediately, but Chuck's confusion only seemed to grow, so I explained again. He really needed to be aware of everything, so that he could guide Sarah through what she needed to do. "Vampires have a very keen sense of smell. Demetri would be able to tell you were here if he got within a few hundred yards of you or our equipment if we don't do something."

"Hold on a second!" Chuck called out. "From vampires to shape-shifters? How can I trust you? Usually, I only know about terrorists, bombers, and other bad guys. If you're in here," he said as he pointed to his head, "there's usually a reason. You're obviously dangerous."

He had a point, as much as I didn't want to admit it. "Well," I said carefully, "you have two choices. Us or Demetri. We've not really tried to kill you yet. And we've had plenty of opportunities. This is really what we believe your best chance for survival is. As for being dangerous, we are, probably more dangerous than anything you will ever meet. And Sarah is dangerous, and Casey is dangerous. You are beset with dangers, Charles Irving Bartowski, for you are dangerous yourself in your own fashion. Simply being dangerous is not a crime." Chuck smiled, obviously catching my allusion.

"You had better hurry, too." Bella's voice was tight and very controlled, her mind obviously somewhere else. "Demetri could be along at any minute."

I had another concern. Bella was showing signs of high aggravation. I knew my mental assault on her hadn't gone unnoticed. Being around Chuck was perilous for both of us. I couldn't control myself and, once again, my lack of discipline was hurting the one I loved most in all the world.

Springing into motion, I called out instructions. "Jacob, please go upstairs and get Sarah, the human woman, and explain that they need to leave immediately. Don't tell her anymore than you have to, I beg of you. I'm going to go round up the appropriate camping gear. Bella, you stay with Chuck."

Even as I ran to get our still-unused camping equipment and other necessities from a couple different locations in the house, I could hear Chuck's question. "Why can't I tell Sarah what's going on?"

Bella answered just loudly enough for me to hear. "Because keeping a secret means not telling anyone. The more people who know, the greater the threat of someone saying something. You know that. If this secret got out, it could be fatal for all of us here. Edward obviously believes your knowing isn't too dangerous, and I trust him, but the more humans who know what we are, the worse off we'll all be. Can't you see that? Do you think this Sarah of yours could handle the truth? Would she believe you, without a very graphic demonstration?"

Then I was back, carrying two sleeping bags, two pillows, an easy-to-assemble tent with all the necessities to assemble it, a small propane grill, two pocketknives, general cooking gear, a first aid kit, a his and hers bathroom kit, clothes, and a few other necessities already packed into two backpacks.

Jacob was leading a reticent Sarah downstairs. "Wait," she was saying, "why are we going camping?"

The Indian cast an imploring look at Chuck, who answered the question. "It's part of the plan, Sarah. We need to escape the … the thing that's chasing us and I believe this will help us do that."

"You believe? And what is the thing that's chasing us? You obviously know." Sarah advanced on Chuck, who held his ground in the face of her fury.

"Sarah," he said quite calmly. "You have to trust me on this one. You know I hate keeping secrets. But, of all people, you should understand that sometimes it's necessary."

"And you are the judge of that?" she asked.

"This time, yes, I am. You have to trust me on this."

"Trust you?" The words sounded like a foreign concept. I could see in her mind confused flashes of a couple previous instances of trust going badly awry. This was a woman who had been hurt badly and would not trust easily.

"Yes, Sarah, I'm asking you to trust me. No, I'm begging you. Please. This time, at least, just trust me." His eyes bored into hers and hers danced between his, seeking something. The moment suddenly acquired an uncomfortably intimate tone. All of us non-humans sought an escape, but there was none.

"If it was anybody else …" she whispered, but the sounds were still clear in my ear. I tried to keep out of her mind, but the pulsating love in that place was too strong to ignore.

"But it's not anybody else, it's me."

Still she fought herself. I've witnessed many internal battles but none where both sides of a person's mind were so adamant. Inevitably, one side would win, and I was able to discern the result before she did. It took a distressingly long time before she succumbed to the inexorable force within herself. "I … I do trust you, Chuck."

"Then everything is settled?" Carlisle asked.

I nodded but Alice didn't look certain. She said, "My vision – the one of Sarah and of our deaths – it hasn't disappeared like other visions. It is still possible." Fixing Jacob with a steely gaze, she added, "It could be their interaction changing things. But it seems like we're not out of the woods yet." Where werewolves are concerned, Alice's visions tend to be even more incomplete than normal.

"Time is the enemy," I said. "We have to get them safely away from here and into Quileute territory before Demetri can get here. If he discovers them here, the whole gig is up."

At that very moment, the door shuddered under the rap of a very powerful knock.

_Comments appreciated. Anyone recognize the reference Edward made?_


	13. Surrounded by Secrets

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy and Mrs. Arathorn for the beta reads. Any remaining mistakes are my fault alone._

**Part V:  
Casey's Story**

I was tired and even crankier than usual. My arm itched where the cast rubbed against my skin. I was covered in bruises. The drive north had been hellish as I had to avoid serious back-up on I-5, which meant back roads, stoplights, and even more inept drivers than normal. I had seriously considered shooting one moron who had occupied both lanes, driving a good ten miles under the speed limit.

That slowdown was even more aggravating the normal, because the day hadn't been normal. I knew my asset was in danger. Walker's message on my cell phone hadn't helped me calm me down. I managed to listen to it even without my cell phone. At least I had a target, which helped focus me.

That was over an hour ago, and I was now nearing the location she had indicated. It appeared to be a slightly larger-than-average domicile, but it was not otherwise inconspicuous and not an obvious threat. I couldn't detect any gun emplacements or light reflecting off scopes. Certainly, the entryway had been hard to spot, but it seemed that camouflage was its only defense.

If I hadn't been so tired, I might have investigated further, but my partner and my asset were at risk. Without either of them dangling on my heels, I went for the direct approach that I prefer. I noticed Walker's Porsche parked out front. Footprints surrounded the car, but I detected no signs of a struggle. Walking up, I knocked firmly on the door.

An impossibly pale and strikingly handsome man in his late 20s opened the door a little more than a crack. "Can I help you?" His voice held multiple timbres that grated on my thin nerves and screamed out a message of warning.

"Yeah, I'm looking for some friends of mine."

"I know that voice," I heard Chuck's distinctive alto come from inside the house. "Casey!" He yanked the door open and reached his arms out as if he were going to hug me.

Snarling, I raised my good hand. "Please, I'd love to punch someone soft and doughy at least once today."

He shied away, and Walker came out, too. She looked at me appraisingly, her eyes lingering on the new bruises. "Glad you're not dead," she said.

"Me, too. I could say the same about you."

"Well," she said deadpan, "the day is still young." I liked that about her, the way she never let our profession get to her. She took it all in stride, neither boasting about her bravery nor shirking from the reality of the situation. That's rare, even in the NSA.

"What happened?" Chuck asked. "How did you escape Demetri?"

"Who's Demetri?" I asked.

"I don't mean to be rude," said some pale, teen-aged boy I didn't recognize. "But you are in a bit of a hurry." He looked almost frightened of Chuck, as if he was particularly eager to see him depart. I understood that desire, but the fear was unexpected.

"Oh, right." Chuck said, almost running into the Porsche. "Let's go. Casey, follow us."

If there's anything I hate more than orders, it's taking orders from Bartowski. Even when he's right, it goes against everything I believe in. They left me no choice, however, as Walker followed his lead and started to speed off in the Porsche. Some large Indian man leapt into an enormous Jeep to the sounds of "Keep it as long as you need" coming from the house.

Grumbling, I climbed back into my Crown Vic and drove after them. Fortunately, it was only a short drive until we reached our destination, which was apparently the middle of a forest only a few miles west of where we started.

The setting was actually quite picturesque, if you're into that kind of thing. A river was close by and we had left any semblance of a road a few miles back. I was a little surprised Walker's sports car had made it. My Vic had no problem of course. The trees were barren, and it was chilly, but the rugged beauty of the area was undeniable.

After we slipped out of our three vehicles, I decided it was time to take charge. "All right!" I snapped, slamming my door. "What is going on here? I want answers and I want them now." This rarely fails to impress.

"Sorry," the tall Indian spoke first. "I've got a lot to do." He turned to Bartowski and Walker. "You'll need to wash in the river over there – very carefully. I'm going to work on the camping equipment and contact my friends. Things could get dicey at any minute." He grabbed the large tent and ran off, disappearing into the woods before I could make any response.

"Who the hell was that?" I growled.

"Jacob," Bartowski answered. "He's going to help protect us tonight."

"He's what?" Sarah exploded an instant before I could. Damn, she's quick.

"It's part of the plan, OK?" He held her eyes, until she looked away, beaten. I wouldn't kowtow so easily, however.

"What plan?" I asked, in my most menacing voice. I hoped that it would divert the flow of events which were passing without my control.

It didn't. Bartowski barely even blinked. "I'll tell you some of the plan later. Right now, I want to hear about you. What happened back at Castle?" Walker's eyes snapped to me. That was obviously on her mind, too.

"Oh, that," I said, knowing this moment was coming and anxious to get it over with as quickly as possible. "So, that thing came barreling in through the front doors. Ten inches of steel, reinforced with tungsten alloys, lotta good that did. It would hold off a tank for more than fifteen minutes. That thing was through in just over thirty seconds.

"I threw everything we had at it – guns, poisonous gases, flamethrowers, even an anti-tank missile. The Orange Orange is going to need significant repairs. We should call about that. Anyway … nothing seemed to even slow it down.

"When it came into Castle, I knew I had to stop it. There are too many secrets down there to just let go. I went for the self-destruct button, but I got thrown away from it in an instant." I shook my head. "I never stood a chance. It tossed me around like a rag doll, destroying a lot of our electronics. It only paused once.

"Remember that chunk of … plastic or rock or whatever I picked up? It grabbed that and held it against its arm for a few seconds. Then it came after me again. I was a bit dazed at that point, but I still managed to land a solid punch. I think I broke a finger.

"It picked me up and demanded 'Where's Chuck?' Of course, I didn't say anything, so it threw me across the room again. It was coming after me and I could tell it was after blood. I wouldn't survive the next encounter. I started pushing things at it – tables, chairs, whatever I could find.

"As it passed the hallway back to the medical wing, something grabbed its attention. It abandoned me and disappeared into the back. It doesn't make any sense." I could see Bartowski had a faraway look. I know that look – it's the one he gets before saying something really crazy instead of his normal crazy.

I was right; he didn't make sense. "Bloody rags. Awesome didn't have everything cleaned up. Wow, that was lucky."

"What blood's got to do with it? I didn't miss my chance, though, and I made an expeditious retreat. Staying would have been suicide and I'd slowed it as much as I could. All our defense mechanisms had been destroyed, so there was nothing more for me to do there.

"I got in the Vic and headed towards Seattle. Somewhere in the fight, my cell got broken, so I stopped in Eugene and called for my messages. I got Walker's coordinates, so I went right there. Lucky I stopped in Eugene, too, because the 5 was apparently a real mess."

Walker smiled grimly. "I hope the 5's still a mess. That's our only hope. We set that traffic jam to stop our pursuer." She turned away from me. "C'mon, Chuck, we've gotta get cleaned up." She started shedding her shirt as she half-ran towards the nearby river.

"Uhhh…" Leave it to Bartowski to capture the poetry of the moment. "I'll find another place to wash up."

"Don't be silly," she yelled back. "This is the best place for it. Now is not the time for silly chivalry. Get over here!"

He went, but I stayed behind, leaning on the truck, trying to make sense of anything that had happened. Only a few seconds later, the Indian Jacob appeared again, wearing only a pair of shorts, despite the chill in the air. The shirt he had been wearing earlier was nowhere to be seen.

I stepped up to him, noting with some dismay that I barely reached the top of his broad shoulders. "You're going to stop that thing?" I said, letting my disbelief and challenge be clearly heard.

He only smiled. "Sure. I could probably do it alone, but I've asked my friends to help. Things have been a bit boring lately, so they were excited to come. They'll be along in a few minutes."

I scoffed. "Son, you don't know what you're going up against. You may look big and tall and strong, but this thing doesn't react right. You're in for a world of hurt."

"I'll be fine," he said unconcernedly, while pulling out the contents of a backpack and rubbing them against his body. "You're as bad a worrier as Bella, though not nearly as cute."

"C'mon. I betcha I could take you out right now."

He barely glanced at me. "You've got a broken arm and already look pretty beat up. I'll pass."

"C'mon," I goaded. "I want to see this unique fighting style you have. Tell you what, show me on Walker, when she gets back. She's not hurt."

"You want me to fight a girl?" He continued to paw through all the things in the various backpacks, setting them into piles or putting them under his arms or all kinds of crazy things.

"Scared?"

"No, it's just that we don't have time for that sort of thing. My personal hand-to-hand fighting skills don't matter, anyway. We could be attacked at any minute and I don't want to waste time fighting amongst ourselves to prove something to you."

That was it. "Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but I'm in charge of this little operation and if you don't show me something, I'm shutting it down and we're getting out of here."

He started shaking, in anger or something else. "You're challenging my authority?" He spoke half to himself. "I can't let that happen." A decision was made. "It doesn't matter, but fine, I'll fight her."

At that moment, Bartowski and Walker returned from the river, wearing new clothes, which were sopping wet. Bartowski had this huge goofy grin on his face and it didn't take a detective to figure out why. It disappeared quickly as I told them of our discussion.

The moron eyed the size of the other guy, like that mattered. "Sarah, please don't do this. I don't want you to get hurt." The other moron flexed a muscle, trying for intimidation.

Walker just started stretching. "Just sparring, right? No real injuries?" I nodded.

Chuck started to protest again, but Jacob overrode him. "You know, Chuck, that pile of things needs to be washed off in the river. Can you take care of that?" He indicated one of the piles of items he'd made.

Sarah sent him off. "Yes, Chuck, please. This won't take a minute." Muttering under his breath, he walked off. Most people just don't understand how this kind of thing works.

I turned to the two combatants. "Ready?" They both nodded. "Remember, this is just a test of skill. I don't want any injuries." Again, nods. Good, they were ready.

Five seconds into the sparring between Jacob and Walker, it was clear that he didn't know what to do. Oh, he was a brawler and his size would probably intimidate most opponents. But when it came to real skill, none was apparent. Walker was toying with him and he knew it. I let it go another twenty seconds, during which time my partner pulled at least two potentially devastating blows.

"Enough!" I called out. "This is ridiculous. You won't stand a chance. I'm pulling the plug on this right now. It's not going to happen unless you can explain to me exactly what your plan is."

"But you don't need to know," Jacob protested. "Believe in me. Believe in Chuck."

"Unh-uh. Ain't happening. I'm putting my foot down. We're leaving!"

I could sense Walker's indecision, but this was no time for letting emotions interfere with what was right. We needed to protect our asset (and our asses), not rely on some hare-brained scheme with people we didn't know that couldn't even beat us.

At that moment, I heard howling from all directions. A pack of wolves had us surrounded. "You're not going anywhere," Jacob calmly replied. I had no choice but to agree. We were trapped.


	14. Even in the Midst of Trouble

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy and Mrs. Arathorn for the beta reads and helpful suggestions. Any remaining mistakes are solely the fault of the author._

_Oh, and I've not said it for a while. I own no part of _Chuck_ nor of the _Twilight_ series._

I hate being trapped. I advanced threateningly on Jacob, the tall Indian. Even with one arm broken, I knew I was more than a match for him. Not that I was alone; Walker had moved to keep the man pinned between us. "Why aren't we going anywhere?" I growled at him.

"Because it's our mission to protect people from the thing that's chasing you, and we can't do that if you go running off."

I opened my mouth to argue, but at that moment, eight incredibly large wolves emerged from the forest, moving with tremendous grace and agility – except for one, a smallish (relative to the others anyway) gray wolf which paused momentarily while entering before returning to normal.

That wolf was moving like the rest of them as they entered the clearing. All eight were scanning the surroundings, reminding me of a well-trained squad entering a clearing believe to be secured but still in enemy territory. As the gray wolf's scan crossed me, however, I swear it paused and licked its muzzle, losing control of the sweep ever-so-briefly. It was an impressive parade, even with that slight misstep.

Somehow, just the way they moved, it was apparent that this Jacob character had some bond with them – some way of controlling them. They focused on him more than any of the rest of us. It was subtle, but I'd made a career out of identifying leaders and patterns that weren't obvious.

He spoke then, loudly. "Set up a perimeter. Standard scouting patterns. Leah, come drive this Jeep back to the Cullens so they're not implicated in this. You're the fastest so you can be back …." He was interrupted by a howl from the wolf I'd noticed behaving oddly earlier. It wasn't a howl of anger or pain; it almost sounded like a protest, but that was absurd.

Looking straight at that wolf, Jacob seemed nonplused. "I could make it an order…" but at that, all the wolves started howling. "Fine! Have Quil do it. But I will want an explanation later." The way he spoke to them was odd, exactly like he expected them to understand him. It was unlike any training technique I'd ever seen.

One of the wolves ran off, while most of the others simply melted back into the forest. It seemed impossible that such large creatures could move so soundlessly, but they did. I could only tell they were still there by an occasional brief glimpse of movement. The gray wolf stayed behind however, circling cautiously around our little group. Walker wore a slight frown, while the Jacob kid just smiled.

"So that's your big plan?" I growled at the Indian. "Tamed wolves? I've fought wild animals before. They stand no chance against the likes of what came after us."

"These are no ordinary wolves," he responded curtly, concentrating on things other than me.

Bartowski came back at that moment, with a variety of camping items, which he dropped on the ground. Frankly, I was surprised he could carry that much weight – must've been at least fifteen pounds. "Is that everything?" he asked.

Jacob looked around. "Leah," he said firmly, "I don't know why you're still here, but you can at least make yourself useful. Is there any lingering scent that would connect us to the Cullens?"

The gray wolf paused and sniffed the air. It walked over to one stack and nosed out a few metal tent pegs. It then raised its leg and urinated on them.

Jacob shook his head. "Couldn't you have just let us wash them?" The wolf almost laughed, it seemed. I shook my head; I was imagining things.

Close up, I was impressed by the beast. It was well-muscled and impressively tall, reaching well above my waist. I reached out a tentative hand and scratched its ears. I swear that wolf purred at me. "It looks like you might have a traitor here, Jacob. If all your wolves are this friendly, I don't think they'll stop a fly, let alone … what did you call that thing chasing us? Demetri?" Without warning, the wolf licked my face and rolled over onto its back.

I had to smile, almost laugh. I gave a cursory belly rub to the animal, but when I tried to withdraw my hand, it growled at me. This time, I really did laugh while I did a more thorough scratching job.

Jacob sounded disgusted. "I guess we'll leave you two to get acquainted." He turned to Bartowski and Walker. "Let's get your tent set up and discuss your responsibilities tonight. They mainly involve staying inside and out of sight." The three of them walked off, leaving me alone with the gray wolf.

Before I could react to the sudden sense of being alone with a strange animal, a large man, almost as tall as Jacob, came running out of the forest. He barely glanced at me, but he threw a huge smile at the wolf. "Congrats, Leah. About time!" Without any explanation, he hopped into the Jeep. Spinning an extra 360 degrees, he roared off back the way we had come. I could only assume that the man was Quil, who had gotten Jacob's message somehow.

I took a second to get my breath, while the wolf looked at me intently, as if it were judging my reaction – which was absurd, of course. "Well, what am I supposed to do with you?" I asked the wolf, rhetorically.

In response, it licked my face and walked off into the woods. I goggled after it, trying to make sense of things. Somehow, Jacob expected the wolves to protect my asset and my partner. They did seem to obey him. And somehow, other people were involved. As much as I wanted to get to the bottom of things, my first priority had to be our collective safety. That was the most important issue to address.

About a minute into my ruminations, a woman walked out of the forest from the same spot where the grey wolf had disappeared. She was wearing a small halter top and a short skirt very inappropriate for the wintry weather. She was tall and reasonably muscular. Her olive skin and jet-black hair left no doubt as to her ancestry – she could have been Jacob's cousin.

"We have to talk," she said without preamble. "There are certain things you need to know."

Something about the brusqueness of her tone both fascinated and repelled me. It was almost like hearing myself talk, in a certain respect. I could immediately tell she would brook no guff, which I liked.

"So talk," I replied. "But it better be about how you are planning on protecting us, because that's all that matters right now."

She paused a moment. "It's indirectly about that. You need to believe me on some things that are not easy to believe. Jacob hasn't trained some wolves to be his personal pack of protectors. The wolves here, we are **his** pack. He is the alpha member of the pack." She looked at me, trying to test my understanding.

The words made sense, individually, but the concepts did not. "You mean he was raised by wolves or something? He wrestles them down like those stupid training videos teach?"

"No." She shook her head. "This is going to sound hard to believe, but Jacob **is** a wolf. Sometimes. He can choose either form. It's in our wolf form that we can defeat that which chases you."

It's amazing what people will let slip. "I suppose you're telling me you're a wolf, too, then."

She nodded. "I really did like the belly rub. Though you were awfully gentle. I won't break, ya know."

It wasn't a particularly impressive trick. "I suppose you were watching the whole thing from the woods, then? You waited until the wolf left, probably trained to do so and then you came out to explain things to me. I don't know what game you're playing, and I really don't care. All I want to know is how you're going to stop that thing that's tried to kill me several times today."

"Well, it's supposed to be a secret, but you're special; I think you need to know. My name's Leah, by the way. Leah Clearwater. What's yours?"

She was awfully forward, but she seemed to know what was going and be willing to share that information with me. "I am Colonel John Casey."

"Colonel? Do you cook mean fried chicken, too?" I could tell the latter words slipped out against her will.

Against her will or not, they showed ignorance. "Don't mock the members of the US military. We're the only reason people like you can still vote and live your lives."

"Oh, right! Live on the reservation the U.S. military generously gave us after they stole all the rest of our land." She tried to swallow the words as they came out, but she was unsuccessful. Somehow, though, the words were appropriate and made me think. But I couldn't let that show.

I was saved from the need to make a reply, as Jacob did it for me, suddenly reappearing out of the forest. "Leah, why aren't you running patrol?!? And don't antagonize the people we're trying to protect."

She turned on him with a feral snarl. "Stay out of this, Jacob Black. You don't understand. You never understand. Just … just back off, alright? Do me this favor and you'll probably never have to deal with me again." A whine accompanied her words, which seemed very uncharacteristic, even though I'd only met her a few seconds earlier.

Sheer panic cross Black's face. It was a look I knew well – every pore shouted "Women!" in the most condescending and confused tone possible. Even ones you thought you understood were creatures of mystery. And it didn't take an NSA agent to deduce these two had some kind of history of mutual aggravation. I could identify with his concern to a certain extent. He quickly grabbed a few stray items and returned to the forest.

"Are you ever going to explain this to me?" I asked Leah.

She looked at me a long moment. "I've already told you. You didn't want to listen." I felt her scrutiny. It wasn't uncomfortable like I expected. I thought I detected a sense of … a sense of worship about it. It was odd but not as uncomfortable as I would have expected.

I just looked back, noticing the way the light reflected off her deep brown eyes and the way her boyish haircut framed a face which had seen sorrow and joy. She smiled then, for the first time, and it changed her whole face, changing it from harsh to one of life and light. I felt myself smiling in return.

"Well," she said, half to herself. "If you won't listen, then I'll just have to show you."


	15. A Paradigm Shifting Without a Clutch

_Thanks to Mrs. Arathorn and nattylovesjordy for the beta reviews. All remaining flaws are solely the fault of the author._

Leah led me into the forest, throwing glances over her shoulder to make certain I was following. It was totally unnecessary to check. I had questions; she had answers. Of course, I would follow. Every now and then, I sensed a wolf move through the forest near us. I was never quite able to catch a glimpse or distinctly hear one, so I couldn't be certain it was the case, but the sense of solitude that often pervades a forest was noticeably lacking.

"What are you going to show me?" I asked after a moment.

"A couple of things." As she spoke, her hands went up to her halter-top, in obvious preparation to remove it.

Now, I like the thought of seeing a naked woman as much as the next man, but this was hardly the time and place. I caught her wrists in my hands. Her arms were hot, like she was running a high fever, despite the chill in the air. "I appreciate the gesture, but I won't be distracted so easily." Still, the temperature of her skin did distract me. I wondered if she was running a fever. Her eyes were clear, not glassy, like I expect with temperatures that high. Her eyes were also an attractive shade of brown.

"It's not for distraction. It's so I can show you something."

"Maybe later." I couldn't keep the grin off my face. I love it when women throw themselves at me. And Leah was certainly a fine-looking specimen. "Right now, I thought you were going to show me how those wolves are going to protect us all."

"We wolves," she said, emphasizing the first word, "are going to run patrol and intercept the cold one which is following you. Then we'll surround it and rip it to pieces. Once it's sufficiently torn up, we will pile up the pieces and burn them, which is the only sure way to make certain that a cold one will never come back. It's about time we got to fight again. It's been too long." She had a feral grin on her face. I'd seen that look before – it was the look of a combatant anticipating victory.

"Uh-huh. Tell me more about these cold ones. Why do you burn them? How do you tear them apart?"

"Cold ones have an amazing ability to regenerate. Even pieces that have been torn off will nearly instantly reattach to a cold one if brought near–"

I cut her off. "That's what happened then. That piece of … something we found at the construction site. It was part of it."

Looking at me strangely, Leah asked, "What are you talking about?"

"This 'cold one' chasing us. We managed to inconvenience it for a while. I found a chunk of what seemed like plastic or rock or something nearby. When it caught up with me, it just held it against its arm and the piece fused in."

She nodded. "I've heard stories of such things."

"Heard? You mean you've never seen one yourself?"

"Oh, I've seen cold ones. Just anytime we've seen one badly injured, we've killed it before it had a chance to heal." Her smile stretched. "But it is what the old stories say."

"I'd like to hear those stories sometime."

"And I would like you to hear them. They're loaded with interesting stuff about cold ones and about our heritage."

"Can you give me the highlights? I'd like to know more about what we're up against before it gets here."

"First of all, **you** are not up against anything. You will just be observing or sleeping. Secondly, you know much of it already. Immensely strong, very quick, armored, disgusting-smelling, don't need to breathe, can withstand extreme temperatures, etc. etc." I liked the way she summarized, though the 'disgusting-smelling' comment caught me off-guard.

"Kind of like a tank, then. But stronger and faster than anything I've ever seen."

"Good enough comparison for now. And we're anti-tanks. And now it's time. I believe you wanted me to show you something." Again, she reached for her clothes. Again, I stopped her.

"Can we stay clothed for your demonstration?" I growled. "I would like to not be distracted."

"I distract you?" Joy colored her words. "But, no, I really can't stay clothed for this demonstration."

"Try."

"Oh, believe me, I have. But human clothes just don't stay on a wolf. And you wanted to know what was going on. I need to show you." She started quivering a bit, not just her lip but her whole body. "Will you buy me a new outfit when I break this one?"

I rolled my eyes. "Only if your demonstration is convincing."

I then wished my eyes had kept rolling. Now they were bugging out of my head. In a small clearing, away from any trees or anything else, Leah's quivering got worse. Then she exploded, though not in a flash bomb way. I watched the whole thing. One moment, it was a woman. The next, the gray wolf from before stood watching me. A fraction of a second later, one piece of a halter-top hit me in the chest. I caught it instinctively. It was still warm.

I've seen some good magicians in my day. Some moved their hands so fast, I couldn't keep up. Some were masters of distracting focus. Since I'd turned 20, though, I'd never seen one I couldn't figure out. Until now. This trick seemed impossible. A quick pinch on my arm confirmed I wasn't dreaming, though I still didn't rule out the possibility of brain damage or a rampant fever causing hallucinations.

The wolf came closer and I swear its eyes were the same color as Leah's and showed the same understanding. It nudged the bit of cloth in my hands, as if to say, "See?"

I sat down hard, gravity accelerating me into the ground as my legs ceased to bear my weight. I thought I understood the ways of the world, but that conviction was being tested. Things weren't adding up the way I expected. I could make them add up, but it was not in a typical manner at all. "Pull it together, John." I muttered to myself.

The wolf who had been a woman a moment earlier crept up in front of me. Hesitantly, it stepped near my legs and rested its head on my shoulder. I put my head against it. "Are you really Leah?" I whispered. It nodded. I guess I should say, 'she nodded.' "If you understand me, lick my face." Her tongue was suddenly all over my stubble. I had no choice but to laugh.

Then the fantastic possibilities of a creature like this began to surface. People will talk in front of a dog, even a huge, potentially wild one. The secrets she could learn. If only I could convince one of them to join up, I would have a new, amazing asset. Reconnaissance, too, would be a breeze. If she was as fast as the others seemed, she could scout an entire area before I had gone thirty feet. A smile grew on my face that I couldn't have stopped if I had tried, not that I tried.

"Will you show me more?" I stood up, joyful again. Mental problems or not, this arrangement had definite possibilities.

She nodded and yipped, almost prancing in her excitement. A stray misgiving crossed my consciousness about the reason for her joy, but it soon passed. I was caught up in my own plans.

"I take it you wolves are running circular patrols around the site where Bartowski and Walker are camped. You're looking for signs of anything out of place." I looked at her. Communicating in this form had advantages in not being interrupted, but two-way communication is also nice.

"Trip me if I go wrong." Hearing a wolf laugh was another new experience, but it was quite pleasant. "There are 8 of you." I was tripped here.

"I saw 8 wolves come in. Jacob could have joined you, that'd be 9." Again, she walked in my path, and again I heard barking chuckles. It was less enjoyable this time. Remembering the intelligence in her eyes, I resisted a sudden, selfish desire to kick the wolf.

"OK, you're gone, that makes 7 on patrol. Wait!" I stopped in my tracks, before I could walk into her yet again. "But that one guy left to took the Jeep back. I'm sure he can't be back yet. So there are only 6 on patrol.

I started walking again. "I'm not sure exactly where the campsite is, but we have to be a good half-mile from it. That's a lot of ground to cover. I wish I could see your patrol path."

At this point, Wolf Leah took the lead and started trotting. I jogged to keep up. "You're taking me on the patrol path, aren't you?" Every ten seconds or so, we were passed by another wolf.

For a while, I just watched the almost-invisible path we were following and absorbed my surroundings. Then the passage of the other wolves got to me. "Can you sense things at that speed?" Another deliberate nod answered my question.

"You're not in one place long enough to really detect movement, but your friends aren't having any difficulty getting around us. They can tell we're here. How?"

Leah turned to face me again. Very deliberately, I watched her inhale through her nose. Tentatively, I did the same. I smelled nothing but forest, but I also remembered how Jacob had talked about vampire's scent and Leah's comment about disgusting-smelling.

"So you smell them. But, tell me, this 'cold one' that is following us, is it clever? Does it have an intelligent mind, too, or is it a simple, brutish killing machine?"

Leah stared at me and I realized I hadn't phrased the question well. Twenty questions had always seemed like a dumb game to me, but I might have to learn to play well. I rephrased. "Is the cold one intelligent?" She nodded. "Highly?" Again, she nodded, albeit reluctantly and with a low growl that impressed me.

"And does this cold one know about you and your kind?" I saw her hesitate. The mannerism was so strikingly human, it seemed impossible to believe anything but that the wolf was human. Or vice versa. Again, she nodded.

"Then we're in trouble. It could already be past us."

_Reviews and thoughts appreciated._


	16. Learning New Tricks

_Thanks to Mrs. Arathorn and nattylovesjordy for the betas._

**Part VI:  
Leah's Story**

When John told me that we might have missed Demetri getting by, I didn't hesitate. I didn't even pause to think about how he might have known or whether he could be wrong. I acted instinctually. I immediately called the rest of the pack. _Everyone to the tent immediately. We might have a problem._

While we are in wolf form, our pack has instant mental communication. While it's quite handy at times like this, when I need to give orders, it's also caused me no end of grief. Being the only female in a group of males is hard enough when you don't have to share every passing thought in both directions. With that unwelcome feature, life has been rather hellish since I became a werewolf.

I have to admit, though, I was surprised by the amount of goodwill I was currently receiving from the rest of the pack. It's like they were all glad I had imprinted. Though I didn't know why that would be any different for them than the days when I pined for an old love. I still wanted a male, which they claimed was the main problem. Oh well. I was happy; imprinting changed a lot of people's attitudes.

It's impossible to understand imprinting until it happens to you. Jacob described it like having all of his concerns and thoughts as balloons. When he imprinted, they all released from their original places and tied themselves to Nessie. For me, it's more like the center of the universe changed. Instead of being pulled by gravity downwards, I was constantly pulled towards John. I was in his orbit, and I felt at peace for the first time in years.

That peace wouldn't last, though, if we let his charges be killed. I had to decide between leaving him (a thought which made my chest hurt) or potentially losing his trust by not protecting his charges and working for the greater good. I knew which he would tell me to do.

I howled as I made my decision and shot through the trees. We weren't actually that far from the tent (under a mile), so I resolved to be the first to arrive. My claws tore at the dirt in the forest, as I poured myself into running.

For months, running had been my respite. I'd run as a wolf. I'd run as a human. The rhythm of footfalls helped calm my frustrations and quash unrequited feelings. Now, however, running brought no comfort. It was simply the necessary way to get from one point to another. For everything gained, something else was lost.

I reached the tiny clearing where the tent was. I smelled no vampire, but I looked around carefully anyway. There was nothing to see. The tent looked undisturbed, though hard-to-distinguish sounds came from it. It certainly wasn't the sound of combat or a vampire feeding.

Now I felt silly for my overreaction to John's proclamation. It seemed impossible that he had made a mistake, but my own senses showed me nothing.

The others started arriving then. _What's going on?_

_Why aren't we still running patrol?_

_Where's Jacob?_

_Quiet!_ I demanded. As second-in-command of the pack, I got their attention, at least in this form. _You all heard John. We may have had a breach._

_Well, I don't see anything._ That was Embry's thought. He's one of the ones most resistant to my presence.

_Close patrol. Stick here until I figure this out._ I then turned around and sprinted back to where John was waiting. As I ran, fears of his slaughter while I was away flashed into my head, but I drowned them out by sheer willpower.

I needn't have worried. He was waiting right where I left him.

"Back so soon?" he asked wryly. I was so excited to see him, I knew my tail was wagging wildly. But I didn't care.

"Look," he continued, still very plugged in to what was happening, "I'm not saying anything has happened yet. It's just that there's at least one flaw in the patrols you're running."

I looked at him intently and I could feel the rest of the pack hanging on his words, even as they circled uneasily around the tent where Chuck and Sarah were confined.

I debated phasing back to human, but I wasn't sure he was ready for that just yet. The shock of seeing me phase to wolf hadn't fully worn off, and another demonstration might overwhelm him with too much too fast.

Plus, honestly, the thought of him seeing me naked made more than a little queasy and uncomfortable, despite my earlier efforts. With all that in mind, I just waited for his explanation.

"It's like this, Leah. Your patrols are primarily scent-based, but Demetri will probably know that. I think he can cover up his scent, so that you won't be able to detect him. Then it would be a simple matter to slip past the patrols."

I could hear the protests of the rest of the pack. _He doesn't understand just how bad vampires smell._

_Why are we listening to him? He doesn't know anything._

My confusion and the pack's disdain must have leaked through. Or my John was just very intuitive, because he kept talking.

"You said cold ones don't need oxygen. The need to breathe is one of the biggest obstacles to overcome on any assassination mission. Or, heck, any deep-penetration mission. Reeds, aspirators, SCUBA gear, and everything else leave a telltale traces. Defending against an attack often requires vigilance about those kinds of tiny details. I blew one guy's cover from a couple bubbles in a river. There's a river flowing near here. What if Demetri comes in underwater? Could you smell that?"

_We hadn't thought of that._

_Maybe._

I shrugged as best I could.

"And that's assuming the cold one allows in any outside air. I'm guessing the thing can sense a lot from its surrounding with or without contact with the atmosphere. What if it completely seals himself off in an airtight container? Would you be able to sense that?"

I put my head down between my front paws. His grasp of the situation – of the military tactics involved – was well beyond anything our pack had encountered before. He was undoubtedly correct.

_Ask him how to plug the holes._

_Yeah, what should we do?_

I looked at John, but he didn't seem to understand me this time. I moved behind a large bush and phased back to human form. "John, what do we do?" He started to explain a plan, but I could barely hear him. Even if I could have heard, though, it wouldn't have helped the rest of the pack.

"Wait!" I called out and I waited until I heard his voice stop. "Wait until I phase back to wolf form. Then the rest of the pack can listen in and I won't have to try to explain everything. I'll howl when we need more information."

I then phased back to wolf and ran over to him.

He explained his plan. It was awkward for both of us, since I couldn't really speak. As we went along, though, I found that I could answer many of the pack's questions without bothering John. Somehow, all the tactics and the plans made intuitive sense and I could anticipate the details and fill in where he left things out. We made a good team.

It took about twenty minutes to get through all the plans and preparations. I felt the pack was more ready than we ever had been before. Even the training the Cullens had given us on vampire fighting techniques hadn't contained anything this comprehensive.

I tried to tell John 'thank you' with my eyes, but I'm not sure he got the message. So I licked his face, and he seemed to understand that. I would've phased and talked to him, clothes or no, but the new plans required essentially every one of us to be in position. The needs of the pack came first, even now. Once the cold one was dispatched, that might change.

So, I was running my patrol, occasionally catching a glimpse of John as he evaluated our positions and routes. Early on, he had to call out a few corrections. We all knew and respected his expertise at this point, so everybody listened. Even Jacob seemed impressed and took his correction good-naturedly, which is something I never thought I'd see.

When I thought about that, my brother Seth thought back. _It's because you're so gosh-darned happy. It's affecting all of us. It's hard to be mad or upset when you're beaming out joy to all and sundry._

_I'm doing it?_

_Yeah. You do tend to set the mood for the pack. Or hadn't you noticed?_

I hadn't noticed, to be perfectly honest, but it helped explained why Jacob made me his second-in-command. And why when things got a little better with one person, they got better with everyone at the same time. Leave it to my brother to point the obvious.

_You're welcome._ I ignored him this time, though.

_Remember Casey's instructions. No idle chitchat. Focus!_ Jacob's thoughts, which always were somehow deeper and more resonant than any others, interrupted our conversation. I realized he was right.

I could only hope he wasn't too late, as another thought came through. _I'm seeing signs of passage, but there's no scent. Casey was right. Our perimeter has been breached._

* * *

_Reviews and comments appreciated._


	17. Unexpected Nightmare

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy for the beta. Mrs. Arathorn has an art showing tomorrow night and was too busy._

I tore through the woods. The announcement that Demetri had gotten through our outer perimeter undetected was not particularly a surprise. Most of us thought John was paranoid, but it turned out he was right. No scent of vampire filled the woods, but the report was insistent and undeniably accurate.

My positioning had me furthest from the probable insertion point. John's grasp of the situation had been perfect. When he'd called for the fastest to be positioned where I was, I was happy to take the spot. I'm sure he noticed, though he didn't comment on it.

I passed within a hundred yards of the tent we had to protect. I ignored those sounds, listening to the forest and trying to locate our collective target. I wasn't the first to find him.

_There. In the trees._ A mental image accompanied the thought and it was curious. The normal vampire shape was somehow occluded. He was certainly wearing something, but it wouldn't help him. We had him in our sights now. No vampire escaped a pack of our size.

Except we couldn't reach him. He was in the treetops. Unlike regular wolves, we can climb trees, but we are very slow and awkward in the air. Open spaces is where we're best, which is why the tent was in the middle of a clearing.

I joined the rest of the pack in shadowing him – trying to stay invisible until he came to ground. Jacob wanted us to keep him surrounded, which made sense. The sticky part was that we were supposed to keep an eye on him while remaining unseen.

The bloodsucker changed course on us a couple times, but we had him too outnumbered for him to be able to shake us. He dropped to the ground about a hundred yards from the tent.

_Wait._ Jacob was in charge. I didn't want to wait, but I had to. I knew John was somewhere in that clearing, too.

It wasn't until the filthy vampire had covered more than a quarter of the distance that Jacob released us. I am the fastest, so I reached him first, before he'd covered even another ten yards. That meant the right of first strike was mine. We were still undiscovered, so surprise was on my side. Moving like a bullet, I snapped my teeth around his right wrist and tossed my head to the right.

Normally, this would have removed his hand, giving us an immediate advantage. This was not a normal battle. My mouth filled with blood, and my headlong charge was checked by the addition of an extra two hundred pounds. Instead of detaching his hand from his body, I had snagged some kind of wetsuit with my teeth and was dragging him with me.

I let go immediately and felt the blood start pooling out of my mouth. In shock, I realized it was my own blood. Whatever stretchy material this vampire was wearing, it was covered in razor-sharp projections that tore up the inside of my mouth. I could feel the tingling pain now, overriding the adrenaline rush of the attack.

_OK, boss, what do we do now?_ That was Quil's thought, as they had all noticed my predicament. We watched in horror as the vampire used its left hand to readjust its right before continuing its movement toward the tent. The small holes where my teeth had penetrated the suit and the reek of vampire was now present, though highly muted.

"Why do you interfere, Children of the Night?" Now that he was discovered, the vampire seemed willing to speak, though he kept voice so quiet I could barely hear him. With his exhalation, stronger vampire smell became present. "This is no business of yours." We made no response.

He continued to near the tent, despite the pack's circling. He was now within thirty yards, which was closer than any of us wanted. It wasn't obvious how we could injure him, especially after my failed first attack. I felt the failure was mine and I devoted what portion of my concentration I could spare to thinking of a solution.

_We have to knock him back. Even if we can't tear him to pieces, we outmass him. Seth, Embry – hit him now before he goes any further._ Jacob's command voice was still strong.

I watched the two of them launch themselves from the circle and collide with the vampire. They didn't bother biting, simply barreling into our enemy and driving him away from the tent. Their fur protected them from the worst of the barbs so all they got were a few scratches.

That reminded me. I tasted my mouth again, gingerly. It felt fine. Despite the sheer number of cuts I'd received, they had all been shallow. I was fully healed. That was good news that I broadcast out. _It hurts like hell for a bit, but these mouth wounds heal quickly._

Demetri seemed to consider his situation. He paused where he was and looked to the trees and the tent before his eyes swept over us. "This is pointless. You will get tired. You are only mortal. Save yourselves from death and let me reach my target. My quarrel is not with you. Not at this time. I have faced and defeated larger groups of werewolves than your pack. Leave now, while you still can."

None of us were crazy enough to phase back to human to answer him. That was a sure death sentence. We continued to circle and observe.

In an instant, he was off, moving back toward the safety of the trees. Luckily, Jacob was on that portion of the circle at that point and intercepted. Biting an ankle was painful for my pack leader, but it was a sure way to stop the fleeing figure. Neither wolf nor vampire could move while being held.

Jacob released his hold and retreated an instant before clutching arms could reach him. The breakout attempt was foiled, for the moment. The escape attempt pushed our combat further away from the tent and closer to the trees, almost equally far from each.

Something about the way Jacob looked as he was pulling on Demetri's ankle triggered a memory. I remembered having a family dog when I was growing up. That pup loved to fetch, but we didn't play with a ball. We had a short piece of rope with a knot in it. After our dog fetched, we would have a tug-of-war over the rope. I remembered how much force my dog had been able to exert.

The suit couldn't be indestructible. We just had to find a way to penetrate its defenses. I shared my idea with the others. We quickly organized and Jacob and Embry, the two strongest, launched a synchronized attack, after I feinted to draw Demetri off guard. They each grabbed a different arm in their mouths and pulled. Hard. For just a moment, I could see the suit stretch, but it wasn't enough. Demetri flexed his arms and started to bring them together.

It happened incredibly quickly. Jacob saw the futility of the attack first and released his hold an instant before Embry did. That was all the time Demetri needed. He whipped around and landed a crushing blow on Embry's rear legs, which crumpled immediately.

Seth, my darling brother, had to play the hero. He rushed in and nipped at Demetri's face. That was highly dangerous as vampire venom is very poisonous to shapeshifters like us, but it was the only part of this particular vampire which was exposed. It was enough to make him shift backwards momentarily and the rest of us pushed against him, moving him away from Embry by sheer weight. We all got small cuts, but it was effective.

Our circle was now dangerously close to the tent. A single slip-up would provide an opening and Chuck and Sarah would be slain before we could react and fix the hole. Worse, we were now one member down and we had to shrink our circle to compensate. That put us into closer range of Demetri's overwhelming strength.

Jacob and I had a quick mental discussion.

_That suit has to have a weakness. _Jacob started it.

_It can be penetrated by our teeth. I bit through it._

_Good. Do it again. And again. Make a weak point. Do it just above his knees. That area should be easy to attack. Hitting him there will slow him and make us all more effective. You have to do this, Leah, you're the fastest. We all know it. Coordinate with Seth to get it done. The rest of us will keep him from reaching the tent, the forest, or Embry. Strike fast._

His voice then faded and I could hear him, dimly, giving directions to the others, but the Alpha characteristic of his voice was distant. It wasn't completely silenced, but he wasn't concentrating on me. Or he was concentrating on not distracting me. Either way, it left Seth and me a clear channel to communicate over. We made our plans quickly.

What followed was a living nightmare of pain, exhaustion, and creative repetition. Most of the time, Seth would feint and I would do the actual nip at the knee. Seconds of quiet, desperate maneuvering would lead to another small set of holes in the suit, another round of piercing agony, and another heart-stopping near-encounter with death.

I tried to count the number of times I attacked or Seth attacked, but my brain couldn't hold such trivia. It took all my concentration to keep us alive. Time and again we danced with death. Each time we emerged victorious, but we were getting tired and death was not. On one run, I rammed my nose into the thrice-damned suit and split it open. On another, Seth and I nearly collided after a miscommunication. I leapt over him, but took a hammer blow to the ribs as compensation.

I was only partially aware of our positioning within the clearing, though I did have a dim sensation of covering significant ground. Jacob did tell us to pause a few times while he and others body-slammed into Demetri, but I couldn't spare any attention to our location. I trusted Jacob implicitly, as he trusted me. It was together that we could accomplish this task, though I wondered if we were actually doing anything productive.

Finally, however, a small difference crept into my brain. The last bite hadn't hurt as much as earlier ones had. We paused to examine how far our work had advanced. The left knee of the suit was in tatters and the right was also nearly completely breached. My latest pass had actually nibbled pure disgusting vampire. The taste was wretched, but at least it didn't hurt.

Confirmation of our progress invigorated us both. We decided on a double feint, followed by a double attack. It worked better than we could have anticipated, after a fashion. The feint fooled him and we were both able to bite deeply and pull off not just a few threads but the entire lower leg.

I don't know if it was the change of balance or a plan of the bloodsucker or my exhaustion, but I didn't get away cleanly. His fist caught my front right leg, shattering the bone and effectively hobbling me. I managed to get away, but I could no longer lead the assault.

I felt like a failure. My opinion was not shared by the others. _Great work, Leah! That's done it. He can't move well now at all. The rest of us can clean this up quickly._

I put my head between my paws and licked my throbbing leg. I knew I'd be OK in a day or two, especially with a proper set of the bone. But I wanted in on the kill. At least we would have a kill that day. That thought comforted me.

In less than a minute, Jacob's voice again intruded into my consciousness. _Leah, the kill is yours by right. You did the hard lifting. Come finish him off._

Limping painfully, I moved inside the circle. An impressive sight greeted me. Only Demetri's torso and head remained. He couldn't move and his suit was torn open around the neck. I wanted to rush him, but I couldn't. Instead, my pace was measured.

Just before I ripped his head off, I paused. Raising my leg, I expressed my opinions forcefully and then finished the job I had begun, decapitating him and ending his threat.

_Thoughts? Comments? Too violent? I was going for intense. Did it work?_


	18. With a Bow on Top

_Thanks to nattylovesjordy for the continued beta efforts. She's been very consistent and helpful._

Moments after I finished off Demetri, a fire was kindled only a few feet away. I looked to see who had phased back to light it. To my surprise, it was my John holding the match. His face was set, and he helped carry a few pieces of the ex-vampire to the flame. A familiar purple color started to rise as Demetri's last chance of survival literally went up in smoke.

I watched John as he worked. Would he be appalled by what I had done? By the slaughter he had apparently witnessed? I hoped a colonel would understand what needed to be done, but human combat is quite different from the supernatural.

Trying to read his face was impossible. He did glance at me occasionally while he worked, but nothing in his expression or body language let me know what he was thinking. I was desperate for some hint of the future he held in his hands.

That anxiety coupled with the exhilaration from the successful combat had me far too amped to sleep. As much as I wanted to relax and calm down, I couldn't – not until I knew whether saving two lives had cost me mine.

Even as they worked, Jacob spoke to me. _Don't try phasing back for a good twelve hours. It hurts like a son-of-a-bitch with a broken bone and causes the things to set wrong. Hang tight and we'll see if we can't get Carlisle out here._

I agreed, though I really wanted to talk to John and know what he was thinking.

Once the area was combed a second time and all vampire pieces were set to burning, he came over and knelt in front of me. "May I?" he asked tentatively, reaching for my broken leg. I lifted it for him at once.

His fingers probed gently. Their pressure was reassuring, despite the pain they caused at many points. I let him work, even when he frowned. "This doesn't make sense. It's already knitting together, but it's not set right." Then he laughed grimly. "I'm talking to a wolf who just killed what must have been a vampire and I'm worried about how she heals." He shook his head.

Disappearing for a minute, he returned with two wooden stakes and a roll of tape. He looked me straight in the eyes. "This is going to hurt, but it's going to hurt less to do it now than when the bones are healed wrong." I set my teeth in a snarl but nodded. He grabbed my leg and wrenched it quickly. It hurt, but it didn't hurt as much as I'd expected.

His hands slid together quickly and I could feel something moving inside my leg. Then he was done with that, and the two pegs became a splint held on by tape. Once my leg was properly splinted, I sat back on my haunches, wishing for more explanation from him. The pain was less than it had been before, so I figured something was better.

My John sat close by me, leaning back against his arms and watching the fire for a moment. Then he started speaking in a low voice. "That … that was incredible. I've watched world-class martial artists. I've seen precision marksmen hit shot after shot at incredible distances. I've even seen exhibitions between animals trained for combat. I thought I'd seen it all.

"I hadn't seen anything. The way your pack fought … the teamwork was incredible. But it's the speed that I can't understand. I couldn't even follow most of what was happening. I do know one thing. I know that you did the hard job – you were the one who destroyed the armor enough to finish off the thing.

"And I know it hurt you. You're still covered in blood. That thing – that vampire – didn't have any blood in it, so it must be your own. That takes bravery and dedication. I respect that. And you did it all for people you didn't even know. The whole pack did. I salute you."

He hesitated for a long minute while we both watched the fire dwindle, and I wondered if he was going to fall asleep. His words to me had meant so much, I was sure I was crying, but wolf-tears may not be visible. I don't know; I've never seen one cry before.

John wasn't asleep. He had more to say. "I have no right to ask this of you, of any of you, but…. There's no easy way to do this. The man in that tent, Chuck Bartowski, is incredibly important to a lot of people. I don't just mean the government of the United States, though that's a large part of it. Everything seems to revolve around him.

"Anyway, it's my job to protect him. I'm good at it. The best, I would have said before tonight. Walker's great, too, but we can't do what you did. No way. I couldn't even help tonight – you all move too fast for a clear shot. Anyway, I was wondering … I want to know if you would consider …"

I hoped and prayed he would just finish the sentence. I believed I knew what he was asking, and it was nothing more than my heart's fondest desire.

After a sigh, he completed his question, "… would you maybe come back with us to Los Angeles?"

I couldn't stop myself. I licked his face and did a happy dance, even with only three working legs. Everything was working out perfectly.

With that communication over, exhaustion crashed into me, and I lay down and instantly went to sleep.

I woke in the morning with a head on my belly. John had slept on the ground, right next to me. He had found a sleeping bag somewhere, so he wasn't too cold. Lying next to him felt so right; everything was in harmony for the first time since Sam, my old boyfriend, had told me he was leaving me.

That feeling only lasted a moment. _I can't let you go, Leah._ Jacob had to put himself into my consciousness. I listened for others, but only the two of us were in wolf form, so our conversation was private.

_Why not?_

_You're part of the pack. You're part of the tribe. You belong here, with the rest of your family._

_John is my family now. And probably Chuck and Sarah, too._

_Is that what you want? To be a tool of the government? To be one with the people who put us on a reservation? To never see your brother and your mother again?_

_If that's what it takes. Listen, I know you; you can't fool me. When Bella asked you to take Renesmee and run, you didn't hesitate. You would've left us all in an instant. None of us blamed you. Don't question my decision._

_It's not just that. I …I worry about you, Leah. Our pack was barely enough for one lone prepared vampire. What can you do alone, if the Volturi come after John or Chuck again?_

_I won't be alone. I know they're only human, but they managed to slow Demetri on their own and find their way here. I have a feeling they can do much more. Besides, you and the others are only a phase away._

_It takes time to run as far as Los Angeles. We can't guarantee your safety. Won't you please stay?_

_No. I am going. My only worry was whether John would have me. You can't fight an imprint, Jacob. You know that._

_Yeah, I thought you'd see things that way. I had to ask, ya know? Make sure you were serious. Now that I know you are, I can give my full blessings._

I smiled. I wondered what Jacob was getting at. The pack wouldn't let him deny me my imprint. It was just a test. I breathed a sigh of relief.

John stirred at that moment and looked up. The sun was peaking down on us, bringing the promise of spring. Sitting up and stretching, my John yawned and looked down at me. "Thanks for keeping me warm last night." My smile only grew bigger.

After a few minutes of waking up and putting away his few belongings, John went over to the tent and yelled, "Get up, sleepyheads! It's a long drive back to LA and we're going to have to debrief the general tonight. Plus, you have to meet our newest teammate." My ears perked up at that last word – it was a very positive sign.

A minute or so later, Chuck and Sarah came out of the tent, picking feathers out of their hair.* Both looked more relaxed and content than they had the previous night – it's amazing what a good night can do.

"Casey, couldn't we sleep late, just once? Yesterday was a long day." Chuck asked.

John replied to him, "And today's going to be another long one. I'm guessing the one after that will be, too. You're an agent now, Bartowski. Pull it together."

"C'mon, Chuck, it'll be OK. You can rest on the way back." Sarah obviously had him wrapped around her finger. A hand on his shoulder and he agreed.

"Fine. But what happened last night?" the curly-haired man asked.

John spoke to them again, "We won. No casualties, though there were a few injuries."

"Any of them serious?" Sarah asked, but John shook his head.

Chuck seemed more disbelieving. "You mean it's over?"

John replied, "It really is, for now. Thanks to our new team member. I'd like to introduce you to her." He moved aside so that they could see me. "Her name is Leah and she's the one who stopped that thing that was chasing us."

"She stopped the v… the thing that was chasing us?" Chuck almost stumbled over his own tongue.

"She did. And she's coming to LA with us. She'll work with me. I'll clear it with the general."

"Umm … Casey, you do know that she's not exactly a normal wolf, right? And she could be dangerous. Are you sure that's a good idea?" Chuck obviously knew what I was, but Sarah's confused look indicated she didn't. I would have to be careful about that.

John's glare held amazing power. I'd have to get him to teach me that. "I know what I'm doing, Bartowski. Stay out of it."

"Anything you say." Chuck waited until John turned away, before adding in a whisper so quiet that I could barely hear it, even with my excellent hearing, "Sugar Bear."

_That's the end of the story. I do plan a brief epilogue. Thoughts, opinions, other remarks? Reviewing – it's easy! :D _

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* * *

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_*__ - When Edward and Bella first consummated their marriage, Edward bit many feather pillows in half to stop from hurting her. (for my non-Twilight-reading readers)  
_


	19. Epligoue: Happily Ever After

_Once again, thanks to nattylovesjordy for beta'ing. I wrote her out of the blue and she provided a quick and comprehensive response. YAY!_

On the drive back, Casey started his debriefing process with Leah, who was in wolf form, her long tongue hanging out the passenger window. Certain things had to be understood by all members of his team, even if they weren't necessarily human. Although for him, it was easier to talk to a large canine than to a person.

"My superior in the NSA is General Beckman. She's the head of our operation. Just like you have your secrets, we have ours. You're going to have to get used to not knowing everything that's going on. When possible, though, I'll get you in to briefings.

"I don't know how I'm going to explain your presence. I mean, after I get a full psychological work-up, of course. If you're still around and still … transforming, we'll figure something out.

"I'm gonna have to make sure that Beckman gets something into our official files about having Forks be a retreat location, too. That'll get you back home occasionally without arousing suspicion and it will cover for the Cullens in case the Volturi go looking for why we were there. We can get it predated, so it will look official.

"You know, it's really weird to be the only one talking. I'm not used to it. Are you sure you're OK with all of this? And do you even understand me?"

For a mere three seconds, Leah was quite different beside him. "I'm fine. I get it all. Don't worry about me."

Though a wolf sat next to him now, for those brief moments had been a dark-skinned, beautiful, and very naked young woman who seemed completely un-self-conscious. It nearly broke his face, but Casey smiled. Amazingly, this whole mess had made him very happy.

* * *

It was hard to say who was more excited as Alice started unwrapping her present – Bella or Alice. Alice probably won by a nose, simply because it was a first for her in so many ways. She had never gotten a truly surprise present before.

"However did you manage it?" she asked Bella. The rest of the Cullen family crowded around, waiting for her answer.

"Manage what?" Bella replied innocently.

"This! This present. I don't know what it is. The excitement is killing me!" Bella felt her smile grow and grow as Alice spoke. Underneath all the complaints, Alice was overjoyed.

"I have my ways." It hadn't been that hard, really. The whole incident with Chuck and Sarah had reinforced how Alice couldn't _see_ werewolves. Since she'd heard from Jacob about how Leah had bonded with Casey, it brought the knowledge of another female into the fold. With Leah now distant, a phone call and shopping in Los Angeles led to a present that even Bella couldn't identify.

Alice finished tearing off the paper, delicately yet almost frantically. Inside was a box. Inside the box was another wrapped present and a note – "Couldn't resist. Enjoy!"

Without hesitation, the small vampire tore into the smaller package. "Tickets to the circus! That's awesome." And she threw her head back and laughed. Everyone joined in. It was perfect.

Bella found it so easy to laugh along. She hadn't realized a nagging fear had followed her for months. She always wondered when Demetri would return to haunt their steps. The knowledge that they could successfully disappear, if needed, was a huge relief. The power of the Volturi and the threat they represented to her, her husband, and her daughter was significantly lessened. Bella was truly happy.

* * *

Edward hadn't been this nervous about a Christmas gift in as long as he could remember. It had to be just perfect. Bella was quite unpredictable, which maddened him sometimes. Of course, it was also one of the reasons he loved her as much as he did – that excitement of the unknown. He thought the present would please her, but it was not knowing – and caring so much – that had him on pins and needles.

It was a small package. Unlike Alice, Bella took her sweet time unwrapping it, seemingly convinced of the need to preserve not only the paper but also the tape that Edward had used.

"Bella?" Edward probed. "You know that we'll get more paper for next year, right?"

She smiled at him, stopping her unwrapping process completely. "Yes, but this is my first real Christmas as … as me. I want to remember everything!" She beamed and he couldn't resist kissing her. But he wasn't in danger of getting carried away this time – he wanted to see her reaction to the present.

"Open it. Please!" He begged her with his eyes and she started moving faster, quickly revealing the jewelry box inside. Edward watched Bella's eyes intently as she opened it to reveal the ring inside.

To human eyes, the ring was a simple diamond setting with dual platinum bands. Elegant, to be sure, but it wasn't enough to stick in people's memory. To vampire eyes, though, it was extravagantly crafted, with an infinite number of highly-polished surfaces. It was mesmerizing in its beauty.

"Edward," Bella breathed, "this is spectacular, but you know how I feel about extravagant gifts." She tried to frown, but she was too entranced by the ring in her hand to really succeed.

"I do," he replied. "But this isn't precisely a gift. It's a replacement. A peace offering, if you will."

"What do you mean?"

"My mother's ring that you're wearing? It's dangerous to me now. Every time I see it, I fall near the black hole in my mind. The rest of the time, I seem to be able to avoid that area easily, but seeing that ring always pushes me into dangerous territory. I got you a new one that, well, made me think of you."

"It's beautiful." She put the ring on her finger and admired it. "But I can't accept this. It's too much."

"I assure you it's less valuable than the ring it's replacing. Please wear it, for me?"

Those last two words did it, as he expected they would. She nodded and smiled. With the ring that Chuck had flashed on now safely hidden away, he could finally truly relax and resume basking in the unexpected happiness that now defined his life.

* * *

Sarah felt slightly miffed as a smiling Chuck walked into the Orange Orange. She had just endured an hour's extensive grilling at the hands of General Beckman about what had happened in Washington and about whether she agreed with Casey that they should establish a cover about camping out there. Her lack of knowledge about the details of the encounter still rankled.

Nevertheless, it took very little effort to muster a return smile for him. "What brings you here?" she asked.

His smile faltered a bit. "Originally, I was coming in for some gummy bear ice cream, but I see it's time to talk instead. What's going on?"

It never ceased to amaze Sarah how she couldn't fool him. A test of her facial muscles felt the same as a genuine smile. She hated how he could see through her – she was supposed to be perfect. At the same time, she loved that he (and he alone) knew her so well that he saw past her pretenses. That meant so much.

Still, she tried to brush it off casually. "Oh, it's nothing. Gummy bears in what kind of ice cream?"

"Nuh-uh." He waggled a disapproving finger at her. "Spill."

How could she resist him? "I still don't know what happened in Washington and … well, I don't like people keeping secrets. It makes me worry." And it brought up painful memories of not being trusted and bad repercussions.

It was Chuck's turn to look uncomfortable. "It's not really my secret to share. But …" he continued, seeing her expression darken, "if you demand it of me, I'll tell you." He held up placating hands. "I really wish you wouldn't demand it, though. I'm asking you not to."

He didn't play fair. How could she demand something when he asked her so sweetly not to? "You're sure it's nothing dangerous?"

"Oh, it's certainly dangerous, but danger is a part of our lives. This particular danger seems to be concerned with protecting us instead of attacking us, though, so it seems fine to me. Casey certainly seems to think so."

She didn't mean to, honestly, but she knew what face she made by the way Chuck backed away in fear.

He continued in a frenzy, "I didn't tell him. I never would. I don't know why they told him and not you, but…"

She hushed him with a gentle finger over his lips. "It's OK, really." And it was. She knew how hypocritical it was to expect him to share every secret with how little she shared of her life. She didn't need to know. They were safe and that was all that mattered. Just being with Chuck, Sarah was happy.

* * *

Chuck had that oh-too-familiar feeling of anticipation and dread about that night's cover date. They'd only been back one day from their unexpected trip to Forks and its rather … climactic … conclusion and things were already starting to unravel. Sarah had accosted him again that afternoon in the Orange Orange about what had happened there. If that attitude carried over into tonight, it would be another awkward, stilted evening.

Still, though, the pure joy of being in her presence enticed him, and he hoped she would be in a good mood. Even if their time was just on reports or business, any time together was precious. Chuck hadn't lost his fear of death, by any means, but it was somewhat numb now. The fear of being … changed into a vampire or the like, though, that was new. And that made every second together teem with value as it hadn't for months.

As he entered her apartment, Chuck noticed that Sarah had her hands clasped behind her neck – never a good sign. It was indicative that a talk was coming and that he probably wouldn't enjoy what she had to say. No matter how many times it happened, it was hard to steel himself against the probable pain.

"Chuck," she said, her voice serious, confirming his fears, "we need to talk."

Not trusting his voice, he simply nodded. This couldn't be good.

"About what happened while we were camping, it … it can't happen here. Not unless it's critical for our cover. I'd lose my position here, at best, and my job and freedom at worst. Even here, we're not safe from Casey unless I take special precautions that only work short-term. Los Angeles is too dangerous for that. Do you understand?"

Crestfallen but not surprised, Chuck nodded again. His mind feared it was because, well, he hadn't been good enough. While she seemed pretty vocal about her enjoyment at the time, he was too lost in his own pleasure to even guess if she had been acting or not. He swallowed hard.

Sarah must have noticed his disappointment, because she allowed a smile to creep into her expression. "The news isn't all bad, though. For some reason, Casey pushed the general into designating Forks as our official camping getaway location." Her voice dropped in volume and pitch, getting quite husky. "And since the Cullens have requested we not visit them, we'll be forced to camp in a tent again, with no one around."

Chuck felt his eyes widen and Sarah's predatory grin had him breaking out his million-watt smile in a hurry. "Camping again? I think I could handle that."

"You better be able to!" Sarah replied. "Because we're going as often as I can arrange it. For some reason, Casey's pushing for frequent trips, too, which helps, but I'm not sure how long I can wait!"

Chuck had a good notion why Casey wanted to go north, too, but the thought of what camping with Sarah meant was forefront in his mind. She seemed almost as excited as he felt. All-in-all, it was tremendous progress for their not-so-cover relationship. That thought made him very happy.

* * *

Leah sat on her haunches in Casey's apartment, listening to him report in to his superior. It's much like how she would report in to Jacob after a scouting run, except with spoken words instead of thoughts. The added efficiency of the wolf system was not lost on her.

In wolf form, too, she could maintain a bit of contact with home. When not busy working, she would chat with Seth, or even Jacob. It was nice to have that link, even when she couldn't see them. Everything in La Push was calm and quiet, which was reassuring.

Once the meeting was over, Leah padded to her room, where she changed back to human form and got dressed. She had quite a wardrobe in Casey's house – more than she'd ever owned before, though it seemed small in comparison to most girls around LA.

She came back out quietly and the two worked together in silence for a few moments – both disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling the guns they had used that afternoon in target practice. Casey insisted on teaching her to fight in either form, and she was content to do as he desired. Her quick progress so obviously delighted and frustrated him, too, that she couldn't help but smile.

"What?" he asked in his gruff voice, with just a hint of real care.

"Just thinking about how I sent you flying earlier today."

"It's not right how strong you are. And you swear you've never lifted weights?"

"Nope. Never. It's just part of … of what I am."

"Hmmph. You should at least expect to be sore tomorrow." She wouldn't be. That kind of minor healing was accomplished before they'd even left the gym. No bruises, no lactic acid. She was starting to appreciate the benefits of being nonhuman more all the time.

As they finished the already-familiar rhythm of reassembly, she noted a new look in Casey's eyes. It was one she recognized – it was a look of hunger for something besides food. She smiled inwardly. She'd seen that look growing in others who were the attention of an imprinted wolf. It was gratifying to know that she could cause such a reaction, too.

Nothing would come of it tonight. No, that part of a relationship would have to wait. Because, unbelievably, she was a real woman again. That thought excited her in so many ways – and relieved a gnawing feeling of inadequacy.

It took a complete outsider and a path she could have never imagined, but Leah felt good again. She was happier than she'd ever thought she could be.

_LATE LATE LATE! I know, I know. But it's better than never, right? What do you think of it? _


End file.
